Another 'Blast from the Past'
Going back to the late 60's... The art of one-upmanship.
Grew up being friends with 2 brothers, Graham and Peter. They were both boilermaker apprentices at BHP Whyalla and just 2 years apart in ages. Graham, the older of the two and 2 years older than me, was a very astute money saver, and had been putting as much of his wages into the bank since he started his apprenticeship some 4 and a half years earlier.
In those days a brand new top-of-the-line Holden was listed as a little over $3000, I forget the actual details.
Anyhoo... off to Leith Mitchell Motors we went. Graham had made some enquiries a few weeks earlier, and had details of the actual price of the car plus pre-delivery charges, and with a loan of around $400 from his parents was about to purchase this particular vehicle. He withdrew the cash from the bank in one-dollar bills, which took a few days to organise. He removed all the paper holders which held the notes in denominated value groups, and stuffed the loose notes into a shoulderbag.
Peter and I parked in the car park with an 8mm movie camera to record the deal through the showroom window. Unfortunately there was no sound to the movie, but as they say, one picture is worth a thousand words.
One of the salesmen at Leith Mitchells was a particularly obnoxious guy who was totally, completely, up himself. We knew this.
Gra roamed into the showroom in his grubby work overalls and work boots, and proceeded to walk around the new car, peering into the windows etc, sucking on a cigarette.
That particular Salesman left his office and walked into the showroom. He looked at Gra in disgust and said "Are you here to purchase, or just here to drop ash everywhere, kick the tires, and put your grubby hands all over the windows?"
Gra replied "Well, I'm interested, ... how much?"
The Salesman aloofly declared "It's $xxx, plus $x pre-delivery charges and registration"
Gra sort of hesitated and said "OH! ... is that a cash figure, or finance?"
"If you need finance you will have to step into my office to do the paperwork but you will have to stand, as I don't want filthy furniture!"
Gra sort of hesitated, walked around the car one more time and said "Ah ... don't bother" slipped the bag from his shoulder, unzipped it, and shook it upside down onto the floor "I'll pay CASH!" he declared.
The shocked a-hole stared at the money, started scrambling to pick it all up "Would you like a coffee, mate?... sit in my office while I organise the paperwork and registration! ... there's an ashtray on my desk!"
GOLD!
We watched that movie many times, and shared it with many friends.
