Making Lemonade

"If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month." -Theodore Roosevelt

From Reuters News Service, a story about what NOT to do when life gives you lemons.

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Friday, 22 July 2011 10:18

CONWAY, Mass (Reuters) – A man angry that a car dealership refused to take back a "lemon" van he had purchased, intentionally crashed it into seven parked vehicles, police said on Thursday.

The dispute began when David Cross, 42, of Salisbury, Massachusetts, and his wife on Monday bought a van at the Portsmouth Used Car Superstore, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, said Portsmouth Police Lieutenant Russell Russo.

Cross told police that his mechanic quickly found a variety of problems with the van and advised him to return it to the dealer. But the business declined to take back what Cross said was a "lemon", Russo told Reuters.

After the dealership closed on Tuesday, Cross returned at midnight and used his van to smash into seven vehicles on the dealer's lot, including a Mercedes C300 and a Ford Mustang, causing damage initially estimated at $20,000, police said.

"He damaged each one, and then he left his van that he bought behind," Russo said.

He then crossed the street to where a police cruiser happened to be parked and reported the incident, leading an officer back to the wrecks.

After his arrest, Cross was charged with seven counts of criminal mischief, a felony due to the damage amount, Russo said.

Cross was released on personal recognizance and was scheduled to be arraigned September 19 in Portsmouth District Court, police said.

The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation on Thursday suggested that individuals who believe they have bought a lemon call its hotline for help.
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I found this story amusing and enlightening at the same time. Here was a fellow that was likely frustrated to his wit's end. It is is very possible he had tried to reason with the car dealership. Maybe the car dealership had tried to reason with him. But somewhere along the way, things went horribly askew in their communication.

Life is pretty sneaky in matters such as this. You are travelling along happy and content. You walk in to purchase a vehicle and life throws you a lemon. You probably think the next thing one might say is, "then make lemonade." Pretty hard to do when the juice is in your eye and you have no water, ice, sugar or jug to put it in.

What you can do is slow down and think about what you have. You can take the seed of the lemon and plant a lemon tree. You can change the circumstance by rational thinking. You can change the atmosphere by changing your attitude. You can change things.

Sometimes we don't always slow down and think before acting. Maybe we do slow down and still choose the irrational act. If we do, then we need to own up to the choices we make. The fellow in the above article did just that. An irrational act and then turned himself in immediately to law enforcement officials. He owned up to what he had done, he probably felt good and I give him points for that action.

The hangover effect of his actions will be painful going forward. The only person he really hurt was himself and those close to him. The car dealership 'might' be startled enough to change their business practices. But in the end, only 'self' will be hurt.

So take the opportunity before doing something irrational to think it through. You could make lemonade but that is only a short term solution. Take the seeds and plant a tree that will provide lemonade for a long time to come.

Its a long journey we are on and its going to take a lot of lemonade to keep you refreshed. Its your choice, its up to you, its your journey, so keep moving onward.