April 10th, Saturday - Lariat

I worked for a couple of Ford dealerships in my early thirties while I was a screenwriter because I had a new wife and a new house and a bank manager who wanted to see a source of monthly income before he would give me a new mortgage.

So I worked morning or afternoon shifts selling cars and trucks, and then I went home and worked on my screenplays.  I could not however, deny my basic nature.  I am a little competitive. In my first month selling cars I was the number three salesmen, in my second month I was number two, and by my third month of selling cars, I sold more cars than any other salesman.

My Sales Manager switched dealerships and lured me away with promises of more pay and a better commute.  Brown Bros. Ford was the largest Ford Dealership in Canada.  It was like being called up to the big leagues.  In three months I was again the number one salesman who sold more cars than anyone else during the course of the month.  And at Brown Bros., you got a plaque and a big cash bonus.

After a grand total of six months in the car business I got asked to become one of the Sales managers and run a crew of six sales-people.  So much for it being a part-time job.  I loved it and I hated it.  I hated not throwing myself into it with everything I had.  But I hated the time it took away from my writing even more.

In the end a freak accident that ultimately led to back-surgery made the decision for me.  I was out of the car business.  Newly divorced and flat on my back, the only thing I had left was writing.

But I never lost my love of old Ford pick-up trucks.  It might be the most perfect vehicle ever created for a man. And the Lariat?  Now that's a Logo.

Apple iPhone 3Gs.

-- Vince Hemingson