Mechanics for All

I suppose I’ve always had a thing for car trips. We didn’t leave the house very much in Romania, but I quickly learned that in Australia, people tend to leave their homes slightly more. We were making efforts to integrate, so I ruled that the family would go out at least once a week. Things have become a little bit more difficult recently with the with the sun going down much later, but we make an effort despite our terrible allergy to the sun. 

It has meant more dealing with mobile mechanics in local Brighton. Tyre and auto are concerns that are dealt with locally back in Romania, but here? The locals feel free to shop around for a ‘deal’. Or perhaps they choose a garage several suburbs away because they’re trusted mechanics who get the job done right.

I’m aware of how people do business worldwide, of course. It’s how I’ve become a feared and respected businessperson. However, I still observe trends with interest. I was sipping champagne with Percival Clancey at one of his evening business galas, and he mentioned that he’d had a terrible time finding someone to service the family’s eighth BMW. It’s the car they use for trips into the city, but he wasn’t quite happy with the level of the services in their local area. Percival has this strange idea that he needs to use the same car servicing garages as the common man, perhaps since he owns about 90% of them and it sets a good example. 

If it were me, I would handpick a mechanic for my family’s personal use. If they failed me, they would be dismissed in the traditional Payler-Alucard family tradition, and I would find another one. But no…Percival, and a number of other such wealthy people in Melbourne, often use public services as a way of ‘giving back’. They go to the car service garage in Brighton, rather than the Brighton car service coming to them.

And then in Romania, you simply have it done by the village mechanic. If they do a poor job…that’s your lot. You hide a rabid chicken in their workshop and the snake continues to consume it own tail.

-Ivanov