# hard times!



## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

WOW. 

So I hear a banging on my front door, I can hear its my neighbor because she's screaming at me to answer the door and get my dogs because somebody is stealing her car.

I'm thinking who would steal a car a 4:30 in the afternoon? I open the door and she's screaming at me to help her and to send my dogs on the guy that is getting ready to tow her Nissan.

I let the rottie out and then walk over to talk with the guy. He's a repoman with a tow truck and there is nothing I can do. She yelling at this guy that my dog is going to attack him if he doesn't leave the car. That's when I high tailed it outta there. I wasn't going to be part of that...

She falls into a lump of sobbing flesh on the hot pavement. I feel like I let her down but **** what was I supposed to do?

Anyway, that was my drama for the day, better than TV but ultimately sad that it's real life and it happened to somebody I know fairly well.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Holy crap. That's a nasty situation she was trying to put you into.

I guess she wasn't thinking it through, in the circumstances. But that's giving her a big huge gigantic benefit of the doubt.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Kind of like when a guy that wanted to kick one of my old roomates azz for screwing his girlfriend was pounding on my door...and my roomie calls me (I was 100 miles away) asking where the guns are....I told him forget about the guns and go fight the guy. (only fair)...or call the cops..he wasn't gonna fight the guy, so I then told him to let one of my dogs out in the house in case the guy actually came in the house...My roomie was too scared of the dog to let him out because he was chewing on the crate, trying to get out, because of all the commotion...and he thought the dog would bite him....he was a sally b----...lol


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

I don't know if I ever told this story, but one Christmas season, I had a knock on my door around midnight or later. I live in a rural area and people just don't come to your door at midnight. I answered the door, gun-in-hand and it was a very attractive young lady. My first impulse was to say a prayer of thanks, I thought, what a neat Christmas present. Instead, she said: Sir, I'm sorry to bother you but your manger scene is on fire. It was in full bloom, ha ha. Dashed those hopes. It also didn't do the baby Jesus, Mary and a sheep any good at all.

DFrost


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## Lindsay Janes (Aug 9, 2007)

What a bad day for your neighbor. :-o


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

That's when you should have told her the bait worked fine...now, come into the house before this gun accidentally goes off (the real gun I mean):wink:


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## mike suttle (Feb 19, 2008)

David Frost said:


> I don't know if I ever told this story, but one Christmas season, I had a knock on my door around midnight or later. I live in a rural area and people just don't come to your door at midnight. I answered the door, gun-in-hand and it was a very attractive young lady. My first impulse was to say a prayer of thanks, I thought, what a neat Christmas present. Instead, she said: Sir, I'm sorry to bother you but your manger scene is on fire. It was in full bloom, ha ha. Dashed those hopes. It also didn't do the baby Jesus, Mary and a sheep any good at all.
> 
> DFrost


That is a great idea David. I will try burning some shit on my lawn to see if I can bait in a young hottie.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

mike suttle said:


> That is a great idea David. I will try burning some shit on my lawn to see if I can bait in a young hottie.


What would your large, extremely scary, mean wife think about that???=;=;


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## Howard Knauf (May 10, 2008)

Joby Becker said:


> What would your large, extremely scary, mean wife think about that???=;=;


Maybe she started the fire?:lol::lol:


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2010)

That's rough Chris. You did what you could which is more than most people would do. Sucks for your neighbor though.


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## Jeff Threadgill (Jun 9, 2010)

I'm glad she didn't have a dog. Common sense was gone at that point. I feel for her.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Jeff Threadgill said:


> I'm glad she didn't have a dog. Common sense was gone at that point. I feel for her.


Very sad for this women, having lived in Phoenix I would almost guarantee this repo man had a gun and your dog would have looked like swish cheese with the first bark and you could have prolly couple of holes in you also.


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## james mackey (Mar 28, 2009)

mike suttle said:


> That is a great idea David. I will try burning some shit on my lawn to see if I can bait in a young hottie.


You would need a bonfire so that it could be seen from the road! Something tells me that a fire or explosion wouldn't be out of the ordinary at your place.:-D:-D:-D


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Mike Scheiber said:


> Very sad for this women, having lived in Phoenix I would almost guarantee this repo man had a gun and your dog would have looked like swish cheese with the first bark and you could have prolly couple of holes in you also.



not even a chance I was going to do anything about it.


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## Jim Howe (Apr 24, 2010)

Wise choice Chris! Makes ya wonder though,... At what point, when your neighbor decided to stop making the payments on the vehicle, did it dawn on her that she would not be able to keep it?! Then the audacity to try to drag you into it as well! Lol!

Sorry, no sympathy for your neighbor.


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## Mike Scheiber (Feb 17, 2008)

Jim Howe said:


> Wise choice Chris! Makes ya wonder though,... At what point, when your neighbor decided to stop making the payments on the vehicle, did it dawn on her that she would not be able to keep it?! Then the audacity to try to drag you into it as well! Lol!
> 
> Sorry, no sympathy for your neighbor.


This lady could be a slacker if so I agree but I know of several responsible people having a tough go of it lately things are good for me and the wife we have some friends that are liquidating monthly and it wont be long before they start loosing the battle and sinking its a bitch when you got kids on top of it.


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## maggie fraser (May 30, 2008)

Don't you just love the judgemental threads on here sometimes ? I know of some too who are having it hard because of the economic downturn, it doesn't mean to say they are bad or irresponsible people, but hustling you to send the dogs on in is a wee bit of a stretch... Glad you were smarter than her.


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## Lee H Sternberg (Jan 27, 2008)

Jim Howe said:


> Wise choice Chris! Makes ya wonder though,... At what point, when your neighbor decided to stop making the payments on the vehicle, did it dawn on her that she would not be able to keep it?! Then the audacity to try to drag you into it as well! Lol!
> 
> Sorry, no sympathy for your neighbor.


You got a heart, man. I don't agree with her begging for the dog to jump the repo dude. But these are very hard time for lots of people. She may have been just a flake loser but possibly not, especially during these times.](*,)


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## Jim Howe (Apr 24, 2010)

Yep, times certainly are tough. But, if you make a decision (based on "hard times") to pay the rent instead of make the car payment, then it is time to make a decision on what to do about the car and your transportation issues, and not expect it to just go away.

She knew it was getting repo'd,... hence the tow truck. Yet, she still wanted to get her neighbor involved (by lying to him about her car being "stolen") to substantiate her poor judgement. IMO, this event went beyond hard times. 

And judgemental? If one is losing their home because they can't pay the mortgage due to the economy, it is understandable due to the hoops one needs to jump to get out from under a home. A car payment on the other hand has plenty of options. If you are not making your car payments, then putting on a show for the neighborhood when it's getting repo'd (usually after more than one missed payment), then that IS irresponsible regardless of how much you try to sugarcoat it.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

Good lord this sounds like something off that TV show "Operation Repo". I can't have sympathy for anyone trying to drag someone else into their problem like that, especially by lying. Nobody was "stealing" that car, sorry, the bank now OWNS that car and had to reclaim it. From what I gather, it takes at least 3 months of missed payments for a car to get repo'ed...I don't know, I've never missed a car payment so this is not an area of expertise.

But who honestly expects that if they are having a bad time of it and can't make their car payments, that the bank is just going to let them keep it? At least with a car you can try to sell it before it is repo'ed,it's not hard at all to obtain a payoff on a car and have the title transferred from one bank to another in the new owners name. Yeah it might suck losing your car, but looking at it reasonably, it's better for your credit to change owners AND you're out from under that car payment. If you're smart, you ask for a bit more than your loan on the purchase price and you have some extra money to maybe buy a clunker until you're on your feet.

Granted, times are tough. But people are also irresponsible and purchase more than they can afford. I know people with car payments that are in the $500-700 a month range. I can't fathom it, and they can barely afford it. Lesson of the day I guess, our economy sucks a big one right now, do not buy anything you cannot afford to make a payment on if by chance, something bad happens.


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Think FIRST, act second! Glad to hear you and your dog didn't spend time behind bars b/c others failed to be responsible. A few friends do repos...I wouldn't go on that kind of ride for anything!!! Bumper cars at the fair is fast enough...


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## Courtney Guthrie (Oct 30, 2007)

My motto is NEVER live outside your means. I have friends that have $500/mnth car payments and house payments and credit cards. WHY? They let themselves get into so much debt way too much at once. They will by the end of the year lose everything more than likely. 

Me- I have rent, a credit card payment, everyday bills(power, water etc.) and then student loans. I'm doing fine cause I don't live outside my means. My car is paid off and even though it is old, it runs better than most, uses a lot of gas. Then I have a beater minivan for the dog stuff, runs great and has no payments, just maintenance. 

This is how finance companies make their money. They'll finance you till you can't be anymore and then take it back when the economy slumps and you can't afford it. IF people would be smarter in the beginning about their money and not have to drive around in only the latest model of whatever, then they wouldn't have as many problems. 

Not saying that people who lose their things are irresponsible or not, the economy has done a number on a ton of different people. Just saying that there are ways to do it and not be in financial defecit.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Courtney Guthrie said:


> My motto is NEVER live outside your means. I have friends that have $500/mnth car payments and house payments and credit cards. WHY? They let themselves get into so much debt way too much at once. They will by the end of the year lose everything more than likely.
> 
> Me- I have rent, a credit card payment, everyday bills(power, water etc.) and then student loans. I'm doing fine cause I don't live outside my means. My car is paid off and even though it is old, it runs better than most, uses a lot of gas. Then I have a beater minivan for the dog stuff, runs great and has no payments, just maintenance.
> 
> ...


very wise...I have not paid a dime in interest in years...


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