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Stephanie Davis

Stephanie started an illegal newspaper at her middle school called The Underground—which was printed on copy paper stapled together—thus beginning her foray into the world of publishing. She went on to be editor of her high school newspaper, worked at The Red and Black (UGA's esteemed newspaper)...

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The Tables have Turned...

Stephanie Davis

My Dad, “Poppy” as my sister and I like to call him, was in a dilemma yesterday. He was shopping for a used car and found one he really liked. After debating it, researching  it and carfaxing the heck out of it for a couple of weeks, he decided “Yes!” this is the one.

He went back to look at the car one last time before signing the paperwork and had a sneaking suspicion the windshield had been replaced. It looked different, was missing the Volvo logo in the corner and it was also blocking the VIN number on the dash. Or the VIN number was unbolted, or something. (It’s hard to tune in and get all the details when a man is talking about a car. Am I right ladies?) Anyway, something was off. He went around the back of the car and swears that the tail lights are a completely different style than on the car he originally was looking at.

I asked, “Are you sure that you weren’t looking at the wrong car Poppy?” Maybe the right one was two cars down or something. “No, this WAS the car. I asked the guy!” he said.  Ok, so that’s out. Apparently, the owner of the car has a father-in-law who owns a Volvo dealership and my Dad felt they may be pulling a fast one on him. Maybe they switched it out for a different one hoping he wouldn’t notice. Maybe they took a more expensive windshield out and gave him a crappier version. Who knows? 

“What should I do, he asked? Buy it?”

My, my, my. How the tables have turned. This is one of the few times my Dad or either of my parents have asked for my advice point blank. The only thing that seemed right to advise him was “Go with your gut. If you feel they are being scheisters, then you’re probably right.” See, in my opinion, we don’t listen to that still small voice within as much as we should. Everything in his body was saying “Something is not right here.” But he was willing to push it aside and just go with it.

How many times have we done this? With relationships, with deals on the table, with work situations? I can remember many times saying to myself in hindsight, “Man, my gut was telling me that was a bad idea/don’t trust him/this is a bad deal and I did it anyway.”

Anyway, he decided not to buy the car. He listened to the voice within. And whether he was right or wrong about the sellers, he was right. Because he would have always wondered if he got a bad deal. He would always feel nervous about it. And guess what? There are MILLIONS of other cars out there. He’ll find the one that gives him a great gut feeling. I know it.

Feel free to post times when your gut told you something and it was right.