Last week I made a conscious decision. It was a decision that was not made lightly. It was a decision that came to me as second nature. And one week later, it’s a decision that has me thinking.
Our truck, (la prieta), had finally given out, and we had it at the mechanic shop. It was time to go get it, and that’s when the conscious decision was made.
I’m going to pause here to tell you what happened to la prieta. We were on the way to get my haircut and run a few errands. It was a Saturday so we didn’t really have to be anywhere and we were enjoying our time together. There was a Wendy’s nearby and we were hungry. As we made our way past the drive thru, having just ordered a burger for Edgar, a salad for Anjelica, and a cup of chili for me, I was pulling out my cash from my pocket when a loud noise caught all of our attention. Next thing we knew there was white smoke coming out of la prieta’s hood. We drove out of the drive thru line (without our food) and parked in the nearest parking spot before calling a wrecker to come get us.
The radiator had exploded and we were pretty much SOL!
Two days later, everything was better and our truck was ready to come home.
I myself had just gotten home from work, and insisted on changing out of my work clothes before we went to pick up the truck. My office is business casual so I was dressed pretty catrin.
“I can’t show up like this!,” I remember thinking.
How could I show up looking like I work in an office.
This guy would surely charge me more for that!
Mejor me arregle simplenente. The slacks I was wearing were switched for jeans. My button down shirt for a regular tee. Y claro, mis zapatos de charol were now dirty old tennis shoes instead.
From what I can remember sí me fue muy bien. The repairs were priced fairly reasonably, and the truck is running great so far. What I did find incredible, though, is just how fast I was to change my clothes to not give the catrin impression. Was I right in doing so? Would they have charged me more if I looked like I work in an office? I also made an extra effort to sound extra burly, stick my chest out a little more, and pretend like I knew what I was looking at under the hood of la prieta.
Anything to save a few bucks.
What do you think? Do you change things about yourself too in certain situations, if you think it will save you a few bucks? I’d love to read your stories.
4 thoughts on “Por el amor al dinero”
Juan – I don’t drive any more but when I had to take my truck into the dealership for repairs, I do believe when they saw me coming that they adjusted the bill about 20% higher than normal. I would call my brother as he worked for Chrysler to see if the cost of the replacement parts were in order and most of the time he said they did. I think though when you go to take in your prieta, if you go in with very very cholo looking clothes, they will up your bill. Come to think of it, I guess it doesn’t matter what you wear.
Hey you may be on to something there… they probably do charge everyone an arm and a leg, jaja!
It happens a lot when I go across the border to buy piñatas or any Mexican items. I think that they think I’m too American and hike up the prices. So I always send la Prima who lives in Colonial Mirador, she always gets me a good bargain. And don’t ever send a woman to deal with the mechanic bc I feels it happens there even more!!
It also happens based on language. My mother has an obvious New Yawk accent and when I take her to a store, here in the South, I am very conscious of the impression she makes.
I dress differently when meeting legislators that I want to persuade. There are preconceived ideas we have about people from the way they dress to what comes out of one’s mouth.
I suspect you got a better deal in your clothes.