Morning Narrative

8:00 a.m. on a sunny midweek morning finds me sitting here at German Concepts, waiting as the oil in my car gets changed. The morning sun is streaming through the large windows to my left and creates interestingly long shadows across the tiled colors of light grey, purples, and tans. The stark white walls reflect the light, making the overhead fluorescents nearly irrelevant. The counter juts into the room like the prow of a proud ship and is relatively free of clutter. The sales area is quiet and darkened… no one is buying this morning. A man sits two chairs over, quietly perusing the various auto magazines – Automobile and BMW Magazine. Personnel enter and exit the garage and speak in low tones. A faux wood coffee stand with porcelain knobs huddles against the wall, looking oddly out of place with the rest of the decor.

Glancing out the windows I see a long line of shiny German vehicles – BMWs, Audis, VWs and a few British blokes – Land Rovers. Every so often, I hear the racing sound of an engine in the adjacent garage as they tune the vehicles to the proper mechanical specifications.

A business type in a grey suit and sunglasses walks in carrying a blue coffee mug and a laptop bag. He reminds me of Sato from Karate Kid II. He has a determined stride that says, I have busy things to do. “I’m running late,” he says, “That’s probably the way this whole day is going to be.” I hear his name is Hugh. He wears a large gold ring and pulls out his PDA as he talks to the manager. They offer him a car to use for the day as they repair his vehicle. He smiles and thanks the manager and leaves. I guess he must be a pretty good customer, since they didn’t offer me a car. Perhaps if I bought a few BMWs from them I would get the VIP treatment. As it is, I am only getting a $35 oil change and I don’t suppose that warrants a free car to use.

The phone is warbling it’s electronic tone with greater frequency. A soft spoken voice answers, “Good morning, German Concepts this is Bob.” The door suddenly wooshes open and cold air swirls in. I shiver. Two men walk in just before 9. The one with a moustache and the bright red Tommy Hilfiger coat carries a case of Mountain Dew. The crack sales team has arrived. A wet-haired blond guy in a black Carhart coat comes in and ambles into the garage. The rumble of conversation in the room as the guys begin to talk about the various cars. “You get the red Jetta. What’s up with the silver Passat?” It sounds like they are on the computer… perhaps now they are looking at the NCAA brackets like so many other corporate Americans. Then I hear my car start up, and it’s ready to go. It’s Wednesday morning and I am off to get some Starbucks and head over to Voice. It’s Wednesday morning and it seems like the world is just waking up.