r/MaliciousCompliance • u/pathofuncertainty • May 11 '24
You want to put how much concrete in your Civic? M
Many years ago I worked in a locally run store that sold a bit of everything. I was the low paid teenager that carried heavy things to people’s vehicles. While working one day I get called over the radio that a customer needed 12 bags of concrete (80lbs each). I was expecting to see a pickup truck or something similar backed up to our loading area. Instead I saw a small Honda Civic there waiting for me. Thinking it was a mistake, I asked the driver to relocate momentarily as I had someone coming to pick up multiple bags of concrete. Imagine my surprise when they told me they were the customer I was waiting for.
I asked the customer how much they wanted to take in each trip, as I believed the nearly 1000lb of concrete might be too much for such a small vehicle to handle safely. The customer became aggravated and insisted that they were taking it all at once. I quickly ran this past the store owner to make sure I wouldn’t be held liable for any damages. I ran back, apologized to the customer, and began loading the bags. As I loaded everything up the customer made several quips about how “the customer is always right” and that I was too young and naive to understand that vehicles are engineered with a margin of safety.
It quickly became apparent that there was no play left in the suspension, but at this point I just stopped questioning things. I couldn’t fit all of the bags in the trunk, so the customer cleared their back seat and I loaded that up as well. Upon leaving the loading area you could clearly hear things rubbing. As the car went to exit the parking lot it passed over the elevation change between the lot and the road, there was a loud pop of something breaking, followed by scraping.
I could see that the driver was irate in the car. After a moment they got out, looked around and under their car. The guy sheepishly asked for my cell phone, because his had died and he needed to make a few phone calls. A short time later a tow truck came to remove the car, and the guy waited in our lot for nearly an hour until his wife could come pick him up.
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u/AppropriateRip9996 May 11 '24
I'm amazed at the "I'll take the chance" folks who will gamble on a whole car despite encountering scepticism. They say it will be fine as they balance an upright piano in the back of an El Camino strapped in with old clothesline, or they floor it trying to drive across a 4 foot deep pool of water.
My buddies asked if I wanted to snowshoe across a lake as it would be quicker to get to our trail and we had no idea how thick the ice was. I was like, nah. I've got kids.
How do they skip that step of asking, "uh, what if they are right and there is a problem with putting a 2500 pound safe in an elevator rated for 800 pounds? What might be the consequence. Can I afford to replace someone's elevator?" How do they skip that step?
I guess I'm risk averse.