some people just don't give a berk

So last night I meet a customer at a house she is remodeling.  Wants to do the underground work for a future pool cabana now before the new pool deck goes down.  She meets me before I can even get out of my truck and asks me if I have a rope or something she can use as a dog leash.  Yep.  Grab it and follow her to her car.  Brand new Mercedes S63 AMG black convertible, with, a Rottweiler sitting in the front seat.  After we were done walking the site, the dog, muddy feet and all, jumps back into the car.  Then she asks me if I knew anybody that would dog sit a rotty for the 10 days while she is in the Bahamas.   I got home and immediately looked up how much the car costs.  Its a $180,000 dog carrier. 

It's really hard to train a dog to wipe their feet. If she'll let me drive her dog carrier while she's out of town I'll dog sit. 

I bet she'd pay pretty well to dog sit. And Rotty's are cool dogs.

They're cool. Until they aren't.

180k civic.. stuff she does give a berkeley about takes more than 6 digits.. must be nice!

Nothing against rotties, but I'm with ^ I'm not babysitting an unknown history one.

I’ve always said the more expensive the car (late model off the showroom floor) the less common sense the owner has.

I read “bark” instead of “berk.” Still makes sense.

tr8todd said:

 I got home and immediately looked up how much the car costs.

In sales I sometimes can set my price.  It’s things like this that tells my little brain to go for a higher profit margin.  

You should see the condition of some of the boats we got back to do refurbishments on that were only a year old. Boats that sold for well over $100K  and absolutely so hammered it almost looked intentional. 

Some people's kids.

I would hazard a guess that she doesn't have the foggiest idea as to what the car cost. 

And even if she did, that number would be fairly meaningless to her. 

Not to mention the fact that she won't be the one cleaning up the mess. 

I've learned from years of dealing with the general publics cars that most rolling trash cans with terrible maintenance history are 1-2 year old cars people have no plan to keep or care about long term. It's more common to see a 4-5 year old lower end car with a spotless interior and great maintenance history. Usually because the people plan to keep it long term.

I sold a really well made leather sofa a few years ago rather than move it to another state. It was butter soft top grain leather and looked new. A well-dressed older lady fussed and fussed: was I sure it wasn’t split hide (I’m sure); it sat nice but how old was it (about 2 years) and so on. Finally she says she will take it it but needs it delivered. Ok, I had a truck so no problem. 

Her address was in a very upscale neighborhood and her house was lovely. Her middle aged son couldn’t help bring it inside due to an injury, or gout or something so my buddy and I muscled the darn thing around back (lovely pool, dear), up the steps and inside. Did I mention we also had to take the old sofa to the curb first?  It was nearly identical but very worn. The. I found out why: it was for her German Shepherd. 

She asked for and got a nice discount from an already low asking price, free delivery and set up, and we took the old sofa to the curb.  Our tip was a brusque thank you and a hasty escort out so we couldn’t case the place, I guess. All for a really nice piece of furniture to serve as a luxury dog bed. The rich are truly not like the rest of us.  

You’ll never understand understand how bad rich people’s problems can be until you get the (air-to-ground) call about their dog having diarrhea all over the inside of their jet. 

I'd fly my Cessna right into the ground laughing at that one.

Karacticus said:

You’ll never understand understand how bad rich people’s problems can be until you get the (air-to-ground) call about their dog having diarrhea all over the inside of their jet. 

Sounds like they should get below 10000ft, strap in, and open the doors for fresh air

I have a distant relative who's a high-end chef, he lives in Canada but often gets hired to cook for the ultra-rich in Barbados.

Last year he was working here and told a story about how he couldn't find some high-end coffee one guy wanted. So the guy sent his pilot in the private jet on a coffee run back to Miami 8-(

So if anyone's looking for a villain for their Captain Planet/Hunger Games crossover fanfiction, there you go.

Nick Comstock said:

You should see the condition of some of the boats we got back to do refurbishments on that were only a year old. Boats that sold for well over $100K  and absolutely so hammered it almost looked intentional. 

Did the last part of that paragraph mean the boat, their occupants, or both?

The stuff I drive wouldn't even be allowed in some New England communities, you get used to it.

Appleseed said:

They're cool. Until they aren't.

Rottweilers or AMG S63s? 

Oh, wait. You meant rich broads that don't give a berk, right? 

I recently finished a new guest house project, 420 sq ft, which we did for about $100K. Simple but some nice things. Talking to the electricians, they shared that they are nearing the end of a 450 sq ft guest house project which has taken 18 months and $1000K.  Plus the main house, and the shop which includes an 18T(!) gantry hoist.

RealMiniParker said:

Appleseed said:

They're cool. Until they aren't.

Rottweilers or AMG S63s? 

 

Oh, wait. You meant rich broads that don't give a berk, right? 

Yes.

In her defense, the car is going to be worth half what she paid in a few years time no matter how she treats it.  

I would love to get to that point.  I used to detail cars for a guy like that. He had a big Benz and two Saint Bernards that went everywhere with him and his wife.  They’d make a hideous mess of the back, I’d clean it, repeat. He loved his family and dogs, was a super nice guy, but the car was just an appliance.  Granted a far nicer appliances then most people would by but still just a way to get around.

drainoil said:

I’ve always said the more expensive the car (late model off the showroom floor) the less common sense the owner has.

I always think,  ‘man, I’d love to own a car like that’.    Nothing wrong with being rich and enjoying nice things imo. 

Good point. I'd like to think most owners of high end automobiles, even though they may appreciate and enjoy them, are not car guys (or girls) as we understand the term.