Slow Down

This is officially my first mention of the whole "out of control Toyota" thing going on right now. I refuse to provide a link to any specific article about this vehicular issue because if you do not know to what I refer, you are a disconnected person and there is no redeeming you. It is OK to be disconnected, but you should really take a look at your life and figure out how to get better connected to the world (hint: keep reading my blog). It's not that events, pop culture, or other current goings-on are necessarily that critical to your life, but if you are aware of almost nothing, how is anyone ever supposed to engage you in conversation at the bar or elsewhere. No one cares about whatever weird hobbies you have, they just want to talk about this week's LOST and that Vonn girl from the Olympics.

Point being, I haven't touched on this big issue that has the possibility to shake up the global automotive industry and have a long-term profound impact on Michigan. It's not that I have a problem with kicking someone when they're down. That's the best time to kick someone because you can take your biggest and best shot at that moment. It's the ideal moment to unleash all that kick training in which you've engaged over the course of your life because there is nothing to stop your leg flow except a squishy pile of human to cushion the slowdown of your foot. I've just been trying to avoid sounding like a Big 3 apologist despite my strong apologist tendencies. Without specifically addressing the issue of unstoppable Toyotas flying through the streets, there are a few things about this constantly unfolding story that are of particular note to me:

1) I will never understand why Toyota owners are so unfailingly loyal to their Toyotas. "Because they're dependable and great cars." Well, it appears as though there is some small degree of contrary evidence in the form of 8+ million vehicles that may or may not be able to stop. "But that's only one part of a car and my car has never given me a problem." With all respect to the newly associated tragedies out there, it only takes one of these kinds of problems. Yeah absolutely other manufacturers have had various safety and dependability issues through the years, but for some reason people fled from these issues and never looked back. With many Toyota owners, it very much seems like the other guys remain evil, and these owners would far rather defend their speedmobiles than consider an option they abandoned years ago. The is indefensible. That's a challenge. Defend yourself.

2) In the same vein as (1), why is it cool and praised for Toyota to throw up the "we suck, sorry" commercial all over the place on TV and when the Big 3 went that route back during bankruptcy times, people responded with "yeah you suck, and you shouldn't have spent money on that commercial."

3) I can't get off of point number 1. Sometimes I think we live in bizarro world. Here's a quote from the CEO of AutoNation - "What's fascinating about the American people is that if they see a company that's done it right for decades, but has a bad moment and makes a mistake and owns up to it and commits to change and does everything possible to make it right, the American people will understand and forgive." That thought is inherently flawed. If I've been doing something wrong for the last ten years and someone only caught me doing the wrong thing this year, did the last ten years never happen? Because that's what this guy seems to be saying. This statement becomes even more bizarro when one realizes that there is evidence that they may have been aware of potential problems and dismissed these problems during that ten years.

Alright so maybe that is one point repeated three times. It's kind of fun for once to have a shield.