The Dumbest Question ...

[stevenvillatoro]

It seems implausible that someone would run across a parking lot to spit on you with the intention of being belligerent.

Dumb answers are not a cure for dumb questions, and if that were the case, it would reflect badly on both of you.

[nicnichols]

"Yes Ma'am it can run on Fry Oil, and the Oil is free behind Burger King..."

"oh, then I will have to visit the dealer!"

[Big Panda]

Originally Posted by helidrvr

This one tops all others I have encountered so far.

A grown lady almost ran across the parking lot at the local Home Depot, put both her hands on the passenger door (cabrio with roof and windows down), leaned half her body inside and barked in my face "WHAT IS THIS??".

First, I politely asked her to remove her hands from the door and give me a little breathing room. Still keeping my cool, I then replied - with a straight face, mind you - "What do you think it is?" to which then came a surprisingly prompt reply "A small car".

"Well", said I, "turns out you knew the answer all along and didn't need to ask me after all, doesn't it?", got out of the car and left her standing with a stunned look on her face.

Originally Posted by craven3557

You're lucky you didn't come to a car that was keyed or worse. Would it have killed you to be nice? An ounce of prevention might save a lot of trouble.

while i see both sides here, i'll give "helidrvr" the benefit of the doubt as it may have been one of those "you just had to be there" kind of things.

but i do agree with "craven".....very lucky the smart wasn't vandalized!

[helidrvr]

You had to be there indeed. Her whole attitude was basically one of the worst cases of "Idon'tknowitthereforeitmustbeillegal so how dare you drive around in this contraption" I have ever encountered. Have no fear though, I made sure that the big friendly smile never left my face. I doubt she ever knew what hit her.

I admit that I have a tendency to take people literally, too much so at times. Maybe that was the case here, but I doubt it. Like the rest of you, I constantly field friendly inquisitive questions. This one just rubbed me totally the wrong way. I'm sure that you can see how when taken literally this question was about as dumb as it gets.

As far as being obligated to act as an ambassador for SMART is concerned, I beg to differ. I bought this car for my own enjoyment. If I field questions every now and then, I do so entirely at my own leisure and convenience, without any belief that I have a duty to represent the manufacturer one way or another.

Originally Posted by Jeepster55

while i see both sides here, i'll give "helidrvr" the benefit of the doubt as it may have been one of those "you just had to be there" kind of things.

but i do agree with "craven".....very lucky the smart wasn't vandalized!

[tivoboy]

I actually had a FUNNY/dumbest question on my first day to work with the smart. One of my colleagues came up to me and asked if that was my new smart in an exited way. I said yes, and he said Coooooll, but WHY are you taking up an ENTIRE parking space!!!

:-)

[angel]

I'm a smart@$$ by nature. When someone see's my dog and says, "What is it?" I'll usually reply, "A Dog." Hard to help myself. She's a stray that found us and the vet thinks she's part Papillion and part Chihuahua. Plus she has Blue Heeler colors with the black, white, gray and brown.

I had to try and resist the past couple of days when someone points to my car and says, "What is it?" To reply back, "A car."

Another goodie I had to resist yesterday, "What kind of brakes?" I really wanted to say, "The kind that stop the car."

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by mike-in-sa

When people are rude or obnoxious to me in their quest to learn more about my smart, I am usually a little short with them. While talking to a customer the other day a lady got out of her escalade and in a shrill voice asked "Do you drive that on the street?" I replied "No, I have a special permit to drive on the sidewalk." Without missing a beat she sez " How fast will it go?" "85" sez I. "Can I hear it run?" " Sure, come back at 6pm when I head for home."
We could hear her laughing into her cell phone as she drove away. I can relate to helidrvr, some people just push the wrong buttons.

You will undoubtedly beat her past many gas stations! Most of the time I just try to imitate the smiley face on the front of the car when people show their azzes....keeps my bloodpressure down and bursts their balloon rather quickly.

[saxdiva]

Originally Posted by Bum-bling-B

I pick up my Passion Saturday and have a feeling most of the questions will be the same as I used to get with my Insight. Of course there's the remarks like "but what if you get hit by an 18 wheeler", the appropriate reply, "Is that before or after I get hit by the meteor shower?"

Some of the time people get VERY excited when they see a special car, hopefully in time you'll get used to it. MOST people are genuinely nice.

Like the "meteor shower" quote.... can I borrow it?

I've found that the smart acts as a conduit, and I end up just talking to a cross-section of all the people I run into every day. A few try my patience, but most are people I enjoy meeting. But I do agree that if you bristle at this kind of attention, please.... wait until this car is more mainstream to buy yours.

[helidrvr]

Oh Angel, you are my kind of girl!!!

One of my favorites by far is when people say "are you serious?". My reply is always "no, but I am absolutely sincere".

In all honestly, I am not even trying to be a smart@$$ when I reply in this manner to poorly worded questions or just plain bad english.

I will never get over people who say "can I?" when they mean "may I?" or those who say "a lady that.." instead of "a lady who..".

If people do not know how to properly and accurately articulate a question, then they have only themselves to blame if the answer they receive does not settle the question they intended to ask.

Originally Posted by angel

I'm a smart@$$ by nature. When someone see's my dog and says, "What is it?" I'll usually reply, "A Dog." Hard to help myself. She's a stray that found us and the vet thinks she's part Papillion and part Chihuahua. Plus she has Blue Heeler colors with the black, white, gray and brown.

I had to try and resist the past couple of days when someone points to my car and says, "What is it?" To reply back, "A car."

Another goodie I had to resist yesterday, "What kind of brakes?" I really wanted to say, "The kind that stop the car."

[Kermit]

Sorry, I didn't mean you were an ambassador for "SMART" the manufacture, I meant Smart community as in all of the Smart owners as a collective - either way, of course theres no obligation (unless the dealer made you sign something just kidding!).

Originally Posted by helidrvr

As far as being obligated to act as an ambassador for SMART is concerned, I beg to differ. I bought this car for my own enjoyment. If I field questions every now and then, I do so entirely at my own leisure and convenience, without any belief that I have a duty to represent the manufacturer one way or another.