Warning: the people you are jerks to today may have your credit card...

GAH!!! So I was having a great day at work, um, well let me rephrase that - I was having an alright day at work. I really do love the job, but sometimes the coworkers... But all in all, good times. Things were going smoothly and quickly when (now comes the part of the story where the villian is introduced, albeit at the time this is unbeknownst to the hero of the story).

One of my coworkers came in the back and asked where the book for the CSmart was. He wanted that manual dealie that comes with the car. Keep in mind that the piece of crap car by Mercedes has no glove compartment, and is uber-popular, so it's usually stolen in these vehicles. Also keep in mind that to replace said book, it costs about $300.00 (thanks, 'Cedes). Apparently the couple who rented Maxwell the Second wished to purchase one in time and wanted more info about him. No problem, in fact I rented one and figured that I could help them answer any questions that they might have if I couldn't find the book. I mean I took the lil guy to Cowtown, who better to describe the true power of it's crappiness then me?

I happily skipped around front as was confronted by an elderlyish (? well they were late fifties I think) couple digging through the recesses of this car in search of the book. For those of you who have by some bizarre fashion managed to avoid all knowledge of this car - in a nutshell, it has no recesses. In fact, it may fit inside a nutshell. It is, very very small. I open up the passenger door to meet the woman digging under the seat. Here is thrilling rendition of the following events...

Me: Um, if we don't find the book, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have -
Woman: No, I want the book!
Me: Well, you see it's common that some things get stolen from cars, like the cigarette lighters, valve caps, and a lot of the books, so there's a pretty good chance -
Woman: If I'm going to rent this car, I need the book!
Me: I can answer anything-
Woman: You look like a smart young lady, FIND A WAY TO GET ONE!
Me: We don't have any books, um, on site, only in the other cars -
Woman: Then maybe you should get one?
Me: This is the only car not being rented, yet.
Woman: THEN GET ONE FROM THE DEALERSHIP!
Me: It's a half an hour drive. And it costs -
Woman: THAT'S NOT MY PROBLEM, IT'S YOURS!
Me: If you are planning on buying one, maybe the dealership would have some books on the car-
Woman: I work for a very large firm that rents from you people for entire weeks, and I can assure you -
Me: Let me go check the back...

At this point I jumped into a Neon and made it do things that the engineers never designed it to do. Unfortunately aside from some tippy SUVs there was nothing with a hand brake, and I really needed one. But I was still really angry, I mean REALLY angry that this woman had demeaned me, yelled at me, and treated me like I was two. I considered hitting her with said Neon, but decided against it.

Oh, and for future reference, even with the automatic in its 'low' gear setting, the thing will shift for you despite you trying despretly to red line the little guy. On another note, I was able to leave a patch through a complex series of drifting in reverse and then giving her pig in drive, and then perfected a dry reverse 180. (Note: this was not on Budget property).

But after the hour I was gone, and realized no one noticed, I was still upset, verge of tears upset. I went inside to tell my coworkers about the cow, and plead that they find 'damage' to charge her for on the car's return, but they were apathetic, as usual. This was about when I found her contract.

I certainly found myself to be 'the smart one' as a contract contains many valuable tidbits, such as name, address, phone number, and get this - an imprint of her credit card number, four digit validation number, and expiry date. Yup. Just knowing that I have access somehow made me feel much better as thoughts drifted through my mind of going to her house, borrowing Max with the spare set of keys we keep, and leave her to sort out insurance issues. Sigh. She's a jerk, I know I can accept this, and someday she'll die, hopefully before me, yet after what El Nino and I were able to pull in an abandoned lot - I'm not so sure.