You might call him the suspicious type, most did.
He was always on the lookout for problems, errors, hazards and the like. Despite what others thought, his feelings had paid him dividends a couple of times. He never expected others to understand. However, such thoughts weren’t in his mind as he drove into town in search of a new car. He was excited; he had been planning this trip for several months. He already knew as much as he could about the vehicle he was going to test drive. It was getting rave reviews on the net. A revolutionary car, new on the market. Despite its relative cheapness, the main feature was the introduction of a radically different fuel injection system. It was much simpler than anything car manufacturers had developed before, and far more efficient. He had come to the conclusion that it was this feature that brought the price down.
Meanwhile, two towns to the south, a young car enthusiast was washing this exact same model on his front lawn. It was less than a week old and his pride and joy. He too had been counting the days before they came on the market. Unlike the man to the north, he did know a fair bit about the internal combustion engine, being a recently qualified car mechanic. Understanding that the fuel injection system is made up of a low and a high pressure component. He could see that by using a high pressure system that included the fuel tank meant that the manufactures could do away with the need for a fuel supply pump altogether. It was simple, high pressure from tank to injector nozzle. Today was going to be a full-on test for this new technology. When it was washed, he’d let it stand in the wind to dry. He would also leave it ticking over, so that the engine was fully warmed up prior to him putting it through its paces.
Meanwhile, two towns to the north, the man parked and entered the show room. It didn’t take long to arrange a test drive. It handled beautifully. After having his current vehicle checked, he was offered a generous trade-in. His mind was made up. Back in the office they began working through the inevitable paperwork.
Meanwhile, two towns to the south, the young car enthusiast was looking for his new driving gloves when he heard the explosion. It was an enormous blast. Although the house was set back some distance from the front lawn, several windows were blown into the front rooms. Looking out, he saw that the car was a great ball of fire with a huge plume of thick, black smoke rising up and being swept away by the wind. Within only a minute or two the ash-filled trail of smoke had travelled way out of sight.
Meanwhile, two towns to the north, the man who was about to purchase his dream car was standing in the car lot walking around, admiring it, waiting for the final documents. He came prepared to pay by cheque. They were happy to let him drool over the vehicle that he didn’t yet own. The salesman appeared and spread the documents out on the hood. As he took out his chequebook and pen, a shadow passed over. They looked up. They realised that it was not cloud, but smoke. The pungent smell grew stronger. In the poor light, he opened his chequebook across the documents and clicked his pen. As he went to write, a spot of ash landed and made a smudge as he went to sign. He looked at it for a long beat. He closed the book and apologised.
He never expected the salesman to understand.