One of Life's Little Jokes
Today I was reminded, to paraphrase Adri, of one of "life's little jokes":
In Texas we have to get a yearly inspection for our cars where you have to go to an inspection center and they make sure your car is "road worthy" by checking tire wear, wipers, rust, broken windshields, the horn, the lights, and most importantly the exhaust and emission system. You can't renew your tags without this, and you also have to show proof of insurance in order to even get the car inspected.
If you fail anything, you have to get whatever caused the failure fixed before you can pass, and it can get expensive, especially if it's some emission issue (catalytic converters are expensive), but even tires start adding up.
So here's the joke: When you can afford to fix such things, the car always passes, but when you're living paycheck to paycheck, it fails often.
These last couple of decades, when it didn't matter to me if it failed (I could afford to have it fixed, both monetarily and with my time; we have more than one car, so if one is out of commission I could still get to work, etc.), it always passes. No issues. In and out with my sticker, Bob's your uncle.
When I was just scraping by, this would not be the case. I'd always need to fix something. Get a new tire, fix the gas cap, whatever. It was never (comparatively) cheap.
|When I needed it to pass because I was broke, it failed. When it's okay if it fails because I can afford to fix it, it passes.
Adri of course was also well aware of this little joke life plays on us as well, having (unfortunately) firsthand knowledge.
Now, there are many reasons for this what I'll call The Poor Man's Axiom of Safety Inspection Passage Odds:
If you have more money chances are you have a better car. If you have more money chances are you can afford to maintain it properly and in a timely manner. If you have more money and more cars you drive that particular car less and thus there is less wear and tear.
But despite all these logical explanations, I just think "luck" sometimes follows the money, for whatever reason.
Then there's the whole regressiveness of this car inspection scheme: whether you your salary is $1 million a year or $7.25 an hour (the current min wage in Texas), the fee was the same (around $40). If you failed and needed to get two new tires, those tires cost the same whether you were the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a stocker at the grocery store.
But at least we don't have a state income tax, amiright?
Texas recently did away with the safety inspection part, by the way. Oh, we still have to pay the fee that that part of the inspection cost (it's added to our registration fee now), but you don't have to get it inspected. I guess all that talk about "keeping Texas roads safe" was just so much talk, because they don't care now.
But at least you don't have to take out time to go do it now, right? Well, wrong, if you live in a major metro area (all Blue politically, of course. Just a coincidence) you still need the *emissions* part done yearly, so you don't even get to save any time. And of course you can still fail the emissions and then figure out a way to come up with $3000 for a catalytic convertor or whatever they cost now.
(I have no idea anymore since I can afford them now).
In Texas we have to get a yearly inspection for our cars where you have to go to an inspection center and they make sure your car is "road worthy" by checking tire wear, wipers, rust, broken windshields, the horn, the lights, and most importantly the exhaust and emission system. You can't renew your tags without this, and you also have to show proof of insurance in order to even get the car inspected.
If you fail anything, you have to get whatever caused the failure fixed before you can pass, and it can get expensive, especially if it's some emission issue (catalytic converters are expensive), but even tires start adding up.
So here's the joke: When you can afford to fix such things, the car always passes, but when you're living paycheck to paycheck, it fails often.
These last couple of decades, when it didn't matter to me if it failed (I could afford to have it fixed, both monetarily and with my time; we have more than one car, so if one is out of commission I could still get to work, etc.), it always passes. No issues. In and out with my sticker, Bob's your uncle.
When I was just scraping by, this would not be the case. I'd always need to fix something. Get a new tire, fix the gas cap, whatever. It was never (comparatively) cheap.
|When I needed it to pass because I was broke, it failed. When it's okay if it fails because I can afford to fix it, it passes.
Adri of course was also well aware of this little joke life plays on us as well, having (unfortunately) firsthand knowledge.
Now, there are many reasons for this what I'll call The Poor Man's Axiom of Safety Inspection Passage Odds:
If you have more money chances are you have a better car. If you have more money chances are you can afford to maintain it properly and in a timely manner. If you have more money and more cars you drive that particular car less and thus there is less wear and tear.
But despite all these logical explanations, I just think "luck" sometimes follows the money, for whatever reason.
Then there's the whole regressiveness of this car inspection scheme: whether you your salary is $1 million a year or $7.25 an hour (the current min wage in Texas), the fee was the same (around $40). If you failed and needed to get two new tires, those tires cost the same whether you were the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a stocker at the grocery store.
But at least we don't have a state income tax, amiright?
Texas recently did away with the safety inspection part, by the way. Oh, we still have to pay the fee that that part of the inspection cost (it's added to our registration fee now), but you don't have to get it inspected. I guess all that talk about "keeping Texas roads safe" was just so much talk, because they don't care now.
But at least you don't have to take out time to go do it now, right? Well, wrong, if you live in a major metro area (all Blue politically, of course. Just a coincidence) you still need the *emissions* part done yearly, so you don't even get to save any time. And of course you can still fail the emissions and then figure out a way to come up with $3000 for a catalytic convertor or whatever they cost now.
(I have no idea anymore since I can afford them now).
0 comments:
Post a Comment