Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Fan Mail

Today I recieved my first piece of mail from a viewer.

I pulled it out of my mail box....no return address....not a good sign.
I open it up.....there is one single page of a New York Times with pictures of the Smart Car and how it sizes up to other things on an American Road...such as a mack truck, a hummer, a prius, a dodge ram pick up. Scribbled on the bottom...

"The NY Times does not seem to share your exuberance. The smart car appears to be vulnerable to even a good sized lawn tractor (I have seen one). When I go to Springfield to shop I always take my Ram Pickup. Many of "your drivers" need to be asylumized."

Ram pickup had an arrow weaving its way from the words in his scribble to the picture of the pick up.

So here is my thoughts on this piece of mail:
1) I like the made up last word.
2) What has he seen? A lawn tractor or a Smart Car?
3) No where in the NY times article does it mention safety....and yes being run over by a mack truck with a smart car would suck.....but so would being run over by a mack truck in a Ram Pickup. I think the article was portraying the petitness....not the safety concerns exactly. But I'm not sure cause half the article is cut off.
4) Does he intend to run Smart Cars and other small cars off the road with his Ram?
5) Why so much anger for the smart car and Springfield drivers?

This kind of made my day......unfortunatley it was not signed with a name. So I guess I can't write back. I think I would say "thank you for your interest in smart cars...Ben"

16 Comments
gotshoo
1) That's pretty cool. The only fan mail I got was after your piece on spfldbloggers. It was from a homeless lady trying to get a hold of the mayor as she had been hurt at homeless shelter and she wanted to make a deal with the city so she wouldn't have to sue them. The email was like a 10 page document and chronicled her attempts over the year to get money out of anyone. If it wasn't obvious from the email, a quick Google search revealed that she's pretty much crazy and it's not the first time she's try to sue. Best fan mail I've ever gotten.
shoo   Wednesday, April 2, 2008
daveheinzel
2) Sounds pretty sketchy. You sure you didn't see a tiny "T. Davlin" somewhere on that letter? Possibly a "J. English"?
Dave Heinzel   Wednesday, April 2, 2008
girlcarew
3) From the contents, I would venture to say they've seen a lawn tractor, not a Smart Car.
girlcarew   Wednesday, April 2, 2008
4) Ben, I couldn't resist googling "asylumized." As of now, there are 18 possible results. I think we can expect that number to go up exponentially now that your fan got it mainstreamed through your blog. It should be noted, however, that google offered "aluminized" as the alternate, which, since we're talking cars, makes sense.

Good luck.
Marie   Wednesday, April 2, 2008
reera
5) Here in the sticks it would definitely be lawn tractors in which people enjoy cruising up and down the local strrets.
dannie   Thursday, April 3, 2008
courtneyheinzel
6) J. English? Dave you're hilarious. I think it was maybe an S. Finzen.
Courtney Heinzel   Thursday, April 3, 2008
k8day
7) Sorry Ben, it was me. And when I said Ram Truck, I meant Nissan versa. :)
K8Day   Thursday, April 3, 2008
Leslie
8) I hope the screwball isn't waiting for you in the parking lot in his Ram with a baseball bat. Tell your boss that you need a body guard.
Leslie   Thursday, April 3, 2008
9) I know the guy with the Ram and we are coming after you. But first he has to get a work release approval from the Calif. Dept. of Corrections. But I do think the "Charlie" should be able to close that deal.

You have been found and the rest of my personalities are slapping high fives and the noise in my head is getting louder. We all will be in touch very soon.

UB from SoCal
UB   Friday, April 4, 2008
lgrant
10) UB doesn't stand for Uni-Bomber, does it?
LGrant   Friday, April 4, 2008
ben
11) Uncle Bruce!!! My most dedicated blog responder on my bike trip across the U-S-A. haha I'll be waiting for you!
Biker Ben   Friday, April 4, 2008
Leslie
12) I believe that UB will stand for Uber-Blogger in the near future. I am wearing down the Omahanian too. Things could get pretty crazy on Humzoo if those two jump aboard.
Leslie   Friday, April 4, 2008
ben
13) I think you may be on to something
Biker Ben   Friday, April 4, 2008
14) As an English teacher, I have to respond to the use of the word "asylumized." It's almost Shakespearian in its creativity. I give the writer an A for word choice...a D+ for clarity...but a B- for the freak-out factor.
Mrs. Shoo   Saturday, April 5, 2008
Leslie
15) Scott's Volvo has officially died. He bought a new car today...about time eh?
Leslie   Saturday, April 5, 2008
nheinzel
16) What a great comment, Mrs. Shoo!! I loved it. Where do you teach English?
!   Saturday, April 5, 2008
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