By Elaine Carlson
Recently I began to think that I have been living through a Nancy Drew Mystery.
When I was ten or eleven I enjoyed reading about the adventures of that amateur sleuth and her friend George (and yes I know that was a long time ago). I thought how neat it was for such a young girl to be able to solve mysteries and to have a girl friend named George.
Late Sunday night when I checked my email, I saw Fisher Auto sent me the message "Closed Monday 3/15." I hadn't heard of them but when I opened the message, I learned they are in Boulder Colorado.
"Out of concern for the safety of our staff and customers, we have decided to close the dealership tomorrow, Monday March 15th. If you have a vehicle emergency, please call ONE of our VP's below. They will answer/return calls ASAP. We plan to re-open on Tuesday March 16th."
Monday morning, I go to Google Maps and learn the distance from my house to Fisher Auto is 710 miles and the drive should take 10 hours and 48 minutes.
I cannot help but think that driving 13 or 14 hours to go to a car dealership is a bit excessive. I am sure I will need the extra time for stops at service stations, two restaurants, and maybe a Quicky Mart along the way.
Their customers who live in or near Boulder might be interested in getting a notice that they are closing for a day. But it is really hard for me to think of why they wanted to contact someone living 710 miles from them who is not a customer.
I also wonder why they think that for "the safety of our staff and customers" they must close down their business for one day. If they had security concerns it shouldn't have taken a bomb squad and their dogs more than one or two hours to make a sweep through their business.
I wish I there could be some way I could get Nancy Drew (or someone like her) to help me figure out the answers to my questions.
At least I bet she would agree with me in thinking it isn't likely that Fisher Auto would want to (or think they needed to) set aside a whole day to clean and sanitize all surfaces in their dealership.
If they wanted to clean all surfaces, I would tell her I could imagine the manager overseeing such an operation saying, "You over there wipe down all of the cars," and turning, "and you people thoroughly clean the front where our customers come in --- be sure to clean all of the seats and chairs."
I guess if I were able to talk to her, Nancy Drew would tell me I should do more research on the company. I go back and read through their website and notice their claim, "Fisher Auto operates much differently than most dealerships."
I am pretty sure most dealerships only send routine messages to customers who live near their businesses. But maybe that extra effort to send a notice to me, a non-customer living 710 miles away from then is just a good example of how "Fisher Auto operates differently than most dealerships.
I guess I might never find out why a company in Boulder Colorado decided to close their business for a day or why they sent me a notice of such closure. And I am not even sure that Nancy Drew could have figured out why.
But one thing I know is that I am going to send an invitation to Fisher Auto in Boulder Colorado to a Summer Bash and Party to Beat all Parties I am planning to host in August (if Pandemic is over and such events are allowed). That seems a courteous thing to do.