Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 13:10:35 -0700
Reply-To: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Bying/Selling on the list & morons
In-Reply-To: <4.3.1.20051012123507.00c79c60@fire.biol.wwu.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
--- Don Williams <williams@FIRE.BIOL.WWU.EDU> wrote:
> Points out something that I've thought many, many times. The best place in
> the world to sell your Vanagon is the listserve and the worst place in the
> world to buy a Vanagon is the list serve. I love you people dearly, but
> anyone who would pay $31,000 for a 20 year old vehicle is a moron.
> Don
OK!!!! Them's fight'n words!! I'm a MORON with a Ph.D. in Corporate Finance and I am about to
spend about that much money (on a different van), and I can tell you that it's NOT about the
money. It's about getting a vehicle that will meet one's wants/wishes/desires/ego etc. Many of
these vans are collector's items if properly maintained and cared for. Maybe your 'thing' is art
and you're willing to pay 3 million on a Monet painting. Maybe your thing is junk food and your
willing to pay $3.00 on a big-mac. Whatever you spend your money on is NOT what I may choose to
spend my money on, but to call me (or anyone) a "moron" is to NOT understand personal preferences
(personal utility functions), & to NOT understand "different strokes for different folks". What
makes ME happy is MY business. Many folks would believe us ALL "morons" for paying even a nickle
for any Vanagon on the planet. For a person writing from a .edu address, name calling over
differences in person preferences really does indicate that, perhaps, you're having a bad day and,
perhaps, decided to take your frustration out on the "morons" who don't mind paying whatever it
takes to get th e right vehicle for the right job.
I have on many occasions suggested that we should ALL be HAPPY that vans sell for great sums of
money, as that sets the benchmark for our vans when they sell. I, for one, hope that the van
sells for every one of the $31,000, as next year I hope to be selling my 1991 syncro westy. When
you go to sell your van, will you not ask for the "moon and the stars"?
A case could be made that the seller is the 'moron' for selling such a nice van at such a
'reasonable' price.
I took the liberty of adding a subject line, as some 'moron' sent an email to the list without a
subject line. (I'm trying to be funny here). My rant for your rant. Malcolm
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