Wake up, Buy Here, Pay Here people. It's a beautiful day. Go grab yourself another cup of Joe and say hello to Jim and Michelle Rhodes on the Buy Here, Pay Here morning show. Take it away, you two. Hello. Well, happy Monday. Happy Monday. Good morning to all of our Buy Here, Pay Here friends and colleagues and all of that. It's a beautiful Monday out here. At least the three that are listening. Welcome back to the Buy Here, Pay Here Morning show. Glad to be with you on a Monday. Got some big stuff we're going to talk about, but first some announcements. Do you have anything you want to jump off with? The Carolinas conference is coming up. Yeah, that's coming up. That starts on Thursday with that Unfair Advantage. And if you are in the area and want to be able to go, let me find the... the thing here. BHP H M S for morning. I'm looking and I'm not seeing it. BHP. It's not, we know Jim deleted it. BHP H M S to, to get your ticket. If you're doing it online and that will give you a ticket for free. Yep. So, and that's, we really, we've heard such great things about that mastermind. So, looking forward for everyone that's going to be there. Would really love to hear feedback when it's all done. And we've had Terry and, I'm having a hard time remembering names. Oh, Tracy Myers. Tracy Myers. And Troy Spring. And Troy Spring. Tease. Okay. So something that you'll learn about from me is it's just like, I am so bad at names, but it's, and so sometimes I'll be, you know, I'm thinking of a name and frequently, not all the time. I get the first letter, right. And I'm starting to just like, I was like Todd. Yeah. Yeah. Going through all of the ones. So, yeah. So those of you who are in the area, that's a really good one to go to. There's the next big thing is the policy conference in September. Really great opportunity for dealers to go and to be able to. be on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, and to be able to talk to their, um, their representatives from their state. And, um, and so that's a place where, um, N I A D A, you get to kind of see what part of your membership allows and opens doors for, um, and you know, so it's it's a great opportunity if y'all are interested in that part of um you know yep a couple of announcements I got uh group three from v8 meets tomorrow night that's the newcomer group we got v8 plus uh gathering on wednesday so that's just for our v8 members and then uh I wanted to make a note that we haven't shared the fact that we reached an understanding and signed an agreement with Allison Harrison, which is ALH Law out of Ohio. Many of you who are members of the Ohio Independent Auto Dealers Association would know Allison. We've known her for some time. She's appeared on the podcast before. But she leaned in with us on White Hat Way, and she's agreed to provide us some free legal support for White Hat Way, or included legal support. Included legal support in kind for a pretty good amount of time. So there's a lot that we're going to be able to throw her way on getting some things done. And I wanted to say, before we moved away from the V8 stuff, those of you who listen, we've talked a lot about V8. And it's getting a group of dealers, maximum eight. It's connect and compare. So the compare part, you know, there are numbers. It's a pretty easy thing to turn in. The connect part has been just really a beautiful thing to watch and to hear about. I mean, I don't go to the meetings. Jim's the one that's running those. And to hear the connection. And, and it's like, as, as it's as dealers get to know each other better, that they can have deeper and deeper conversations into the things that are happening. Now, V8 plus is something that we're beta testing with the dealers that are currently in V8. And V8 Plus is us bringing topics to just the V8 dealers that are important things that the V8 dealers that we have, they want to learn more about. And so the, and, and kind of get a deeper dive. And so we did one a bit ago on marketing and then asked a few different people that, that about lead handling, marketing, that kind of stuff. And, and asked a few different people to do a video about, you know, the tips. And so we have a bunch of friends that, that contributed to that. This one is on pricing and markup. And so the people that Jim has talked to is Brent Carmichael. That man goes through numbers. He's just seen so much. Steve Burke, who comes from the capital. And there's a lot of data that Agora is collecting all the time as well. And also Jimmy Rambo from Spartan. And so that one is actually, that conversation is being recorded today. And then they'll be on V8 Plus. It will be a meeting with all of the V8 dealers that want to participate to go through these things and have a conversation about it. Yeah, and I've got a couple of front row dealers. Seth Merrifield is well known. Just so you all understand that V8 Plus is kind of like, it's a layer on to V8 Plus. that we're beta testing right now with our V8 dealers. So, yeah, it's all good. I think, yeah, that's, we're just trying to provide them supplemental education, you know, additional. And so those typically I kind of choose the topics based on whatever. And I would just say, if y'all are thinking or on the fence about joining V8, you get this V8 plus this year. So if you, if you join, you know, it's just kind of included because it's everyone who's a member for 2024 is beta testing this, this, this part. Looking forward to that on Wednesday morning. Okay. Shall we dive into our thing? You first. Well, we tend to stay away from really... Well, we don't. In the buy here, pay here world, nothing scares us to talk about. It's like everything, all topics are out there and we just have... a very open and, you know, non, it's just like, here's how we see it kind of conversation. This has been this, this topic is one that just, just creates an awful lot of, it can create a lot of tension, friction. People feel very, very strongly. And so, you know, we, over the weekend, we're like, I really just, we felt like it's a good time to just kind of, because we haven't, the morning show hasn't been around long enough to see another election like what we're seeing that's coming up. And from my perspective, as we were talking about this, I remember the last one, same people, but it's like the last one and how dividing, how, I mean, dividing at a really deep level. And so I wanted to, you know, we were talking about how do we kind of dive into this? And so I wanted to talk just a bit about my background, and I'm going to get emotional, and it really is. I was a very, very religious Christian Reagan Republican family. My parents were delegates. I was even a delegate at one time. The things that were happening in the world were frequently talked at the dinner table. There was a very definitive way of looking at it. It's like my parents, I had been married before and so my husband and would listen to the people that would speak about the stuff and very, very defined where the belief structure was. And so Over time, I've shifted to just more of... We talk about agnostic. It's like I just am observing and trying to strip away just other ideologies and stories and just like, where do I feel? How do I feel about the things that are happening? How do I see... And in my family, I have... Oh, shnikes. I have four children. And one of those children... at the last election, came out, whatever, as queer. And love this. I just love this child so, so much. And just watching that and then realizing that this is not something that was a decision that was made recently, this is just like, oh, that makes a lot of sense. This is something, this is who this person is. And I remember as a parent feeling and having been raised during a period of time where where those that were different like that were some really atrocious things could happen. And so I was like, I'm so grateful. It's a time today where, you know, it's like, be who you are, be loving, be kind. That's all, you know, it's the character of the heart, all of that. You just be you and not feeling, you know, I just was grateful that it was now because I didn't feel like, be careful who you are. who you say that things to and and all of that for fear that something could happen and you know and I hear stories from from this child uh going to local uh pubs or whatever and and I mean it's very apparent that that um my child is is queer and um having people come up and say just really really atrocious things not to you not to me but to um to my child and their friends and things. And, and so that's one of my children. And another one of my children is very, is like an, it's a pendulum swing of how, the ideologies and, and a lot of those kinds of things. And, and I've watched, um, you know, last election, it was just, it was like, there's a civil war in our family and there's a, a huge division. And I, as a parent, I'm sitting back and I'm watching, um, everything other than love. Um, it just, it just is. And it's just, and, and compassion and, and trying to really understand each other because both are very, you know, there's a lot of emotion tied to it, a lot of personal identity tied to it. There's a lot of stuff tied to it. And it's just, so it's actually a topic we, we don't, we don't really talk about politics at home. We don't talk about politics. Yeah. you and me, well, we kind of do, but not a lot. And, you know, it's, it's coming from the background that I came from and all of that. Um, it can sometimes get heated. Oh my gosh. I remember as a kid, it's just like, whoa, my gosh, the world is ending. And you know, all of this, it was pretty, pretty fear-based and I just, a lot of, a lot of tense energy. And, um, And so, you know, I look at like what happened with the last election and just from an observational point of view, there was a lot of. Division, divisive, just like super hard line in the sand. The kind of division that you'd hear about from, you know, our history or whatever, where it's like, and I observed it in my own home. It's like family and family. I mean, my children wouldn't speak to one another. Right. because they just felt so strongly on either side and I'm and so when we talked about having this conversation um that was where my first um thoughts went to is the the divisive nature of elections Well, it's very heavily polarized, right? And so you've got definitely, you know, that strong division that you were talking about. And people feel so strongly that it gets really loud. And there's a lot of shouting and not enough listening and all that kind of stuff. But I think, um, if I can go back and give my own background, like I, I grew up on a farm and ranch. We didn't talk politics at the dinner table. We talked about where we were going pheasant hunting after football. I mean, that's, that's the kind of conversation we had. There was no, there was really no, I don't remember ever knowing where my parents stood politically. Yeah. Yeah. They were just middle America working on the farm, you know, creating food for people. I mean, that's kind of was our way of life. And, um, And so my introduction to politics really came somewhat at high school. I knew a few people that were into politics and debate and that sort of thing. And so I just naturally came in contact with it there. And I remember becoming aware of the presidential race, even back to junior high, but I was never active in those conversations even. And then more so in college, like I got more introduced into and my first opportunity to vote would have been in 84. Those who don't know, I'm 60 years old. So I graduated high school, 82. And so I'm probably getting my first election or my first chance to vote on the presidential race would have been 84. So I was paying more attention. I'm in college and we're sitting around, you know, eating pizza and talking about, you know, well and you're talking to people that weren't just like on the farm but people that like have opinions or that have been involved in that probably well or was it just the ag college that just wasn't something that people really talked about no they did it was the dorm rooms it was you know at 1 a.m or something you're sitting around talking and when you're tired of studying for a physics test or something you start talking yeah about you know things ways of the world and so that was kind of so more philosophy probably than politics but uh something I really enjoyed and But you also know about me that I'm always I even remember back to some of those conversations in college. I'm always the listener observer. That's just my nature. Like I'm going to sit and listen, observe. I don't I don't assert myself into conversation until I feel like I understand all the, you know, elements of the conversation and so on. And so I remember kind of discovering that about myself as sort of a mediator. back in those days even. So that's kind of my own political lens. Now, I feel strongly, and one of the things I feel especially strongly about, and this is not directed at either party, it's like I just see this polarization that we're talking about. And what troubles me most about that, and I just said that to my mother on this visit when she was here from Oklahoma for a few days yesterday, I was able to say to her, you know, one of the things that troubles me most is that I watch both parties and both seem to... Well, the major parties. The two major parties. Because it kind of ends up feeling like it's a choice between two. It kind of is a two-party system. But yeah, the two parties that we're all familiar with are the most prominent. Certainly, when I watch those two parties, I feel like they both... seem to lay claim to first this kind of moral superiority and religion. They both say, we own Christianity. If you want to take it in a Christian context, which this country is predominantly Christian, then each party is standing up saying, no, we're doing what's right in the moral authority, moral superiority perspective. And so they can't both be right. No, I mean, there's other elements besides that, but it's, it's, uh, yeah. And then the other part that I see where they both lay claim to is patriotism. And that one really flies in my face because again, like living in the greatest country and we are because of this, you can both be patriots. I view you both as patriots. You're both, trying to do what you believe is right for your country. And so, you know, I can accept that that's the way it is, but I, it troubles me to see either party say, no, we're the Patriots and you're not, you're un-American, you know, and all, obviously all the name calling and, and, and that part of it is, is the part that is just really troubling. Like that's just, that's just not, that's not a part of America that I'm proud of. And by the way, I, I never want anybody to challenge my patriotism. Like I'll fight you. You know what I mean? Like, you know, you're talking to somebody who's, I mean, I've grown up as a, I love this country. I feel like I see the value of all the, everything that is this country. It's like, I, I definitely, um, I love this country. And all of my, every single one of my uncles wore a uniform in the armed services. Every single one of them. And I'm just telling you that. And fought. I mean, just about like World War II, Vietnam and Korean. I don't think we had anybody in World War II, but we had Vietnam and Korea. Okay. Yeah, so we had... Of course, my ancestors before that would have been World War II. But no, it's like... I just think it's troubling when we start acting like we're the patriots and we are the only ones who care about America. And you people are standing in the way of American patriotism. And I think that's just dangerous, right? That's just not... And so I think... we can touch on this and we come back around, but I think where, where this correlates for me and why I felt like it was appropriate for us to bring it into the buy here, pay your morning show is one of the things we see in our industry is that sometimes there's a lot of conflict. Okay. And it's one of the areas that we anticipate white hat way is going to step in and play a role. It already has started to play a role in, in some of that, but it's like, I see that when it comes to, conflict that people aren't listening and that there's a lot of fear tied up. You touched on fear earlier. I would say when I look at the whole thing, it just looks like we're definitely in a place where Because of fear of the other party, because of what we've been told about the other party, not because we sit down and listen to them and what they believe, but because of what we've been told. What we're told to think about what they said. Sure. What we're told to think about. The other side. The other side. The other side. They're evil and dangerous. It's just so amazing to me to sit back because we don't watch the news. Yeah, we don't. We don't. We would recommend it to some of you. We would recommend it. And so when something, you know, we hear through social or whatever, then we'll take a look and try to understand. That actually brings up something. So, you know, over the weekend, there was something that came up on social. And so Jim and I kind of had a conversation about it. And we were like... you know, what do you think? And, and where does that, where does that strike you? And, and, you know, there was, it just, it was really interesting. It's like, I just, I, I don't, I, I want to understand the perspective. So I actually, um, it I i I didn't uh I well I talked to one of my sons because I kind of understood um uh how one of my sons and uh believed and you know that already so I talked to my other son and I was like hey can I have a conversation with you I want to understand x and so we got into a dialogue and it was just very you know it's like this is this is what was and it was like oh okay and and and the so it's like I feel like I i understand I and I and I told them at the beginning it's like I have a question about politics that I just really want to understand something from a different perspective and so I you know help me understand this perspective and so just a really a respectful, you know, I love this person and, you know, just conversations like, oh, okay, thank you. I think I understand your perspective. I really appreciate your time. And so it's, it's, you know, it allowed me the opportunity to just kind of, um, of, uh, hearing, um, the, the, um, the, the, you know, someone else's perspective on something. And I think that's key. And that's, you know, it's in, and I hear, um, in anything, politics or whatever, that when you speak at someone trying to change their mind, um, especially someone that believes in something very different, you can't change someone's mind by speaking at them and then throwing, you know, darts and all of that, because then, you know, if the other person, so you have, you know, if you're going to, if you're going to speak at someone, that person is either going to throw darts back or, or, crawl underneath a rock and then victory. And this is, this is something that, that it's, it's something I've been reading about recently. It's just really, really interesting about, you know, fear and power and, and, and those kinds of things. and, When we approach a conversation with, I'm going to convince you of the way I think, it ends up being either you overpower or you end up in a war. If you approach a conversation with, I want to understand what it is that you think. without even saying what it is that you know and and and inject interject injecting what you think about it was just like you know I want to understand what it is how you perceive what it is that you're thinking why you think that way and then you don't have to turn around and come back and say well this is how I think it's like because that person my son I didn't come back and say well what about that I did have a couple of clarifying questions But I ended in a respectful way of being able to say, I think I understand. I think I understand. And I recognize it's something I've learned in marriage is when Michelle comes to me and says, I want to understand why you leave your coffee cup or your dishes out. And of course, my... my answer is I'm I'm late for a meeting I mean I can help you understand that later you're not listening I well yeah coffee I was looking I we've had a lot of comments and I'm just I'm kind of reading through them because we usually read through them before we yeah we post them up and and I didn't bring my glasses so if you see me doing Okay. I don't know. Trying to read through. But yeah, I think it's just, I'm obviously just being smart. But I think that's the part I see. And by the way, I'm much more cynical than I was at a young age. Like I'm still pretty easygoing and, you know, pretty open-minded. But I think that's the, one of the things you touched on without exactly saying is that I think One of the dangerous things, and this really I want to extend to all of us in business too, is when we come into some conversation with a closed mind, and sometimes in our world, ego influences that. Sometimes it's fear, but it's like this idea we're going to enter into a conversation where we've got our mind made up. We already know the right way to do something. I see it all over social media. I saw a thread last week of people arguing about business models and certain approaches. Everybody's got their mind made up. Nobody's here to really educate and help each other. I should say nobody, but for the most part. The people were just kind of, I, this is my, this is why I do it. And any of the rest of you were idiots is kind of the tone. It's like, you know, that when you have your mind closed, you really just limit yourself from learning and expanding. And so this is where I think in politics, we can have the same thing. It's like, We, we really, when we close our mind and we believe that we're right and we stop listening to the other side, there's just no real room for progress. And that's the part that troubles me most as a Patriot. I'm saying, I want to see progress. I want to see us get away from this stalemate nonsense and make some progress on some of these divisive things. And you picked some certain issues for me. And I want to come back to it. Like we can cover it later, but I, I traditionally have not voted at the presidential level on any one issue. Party. Bucket. Yeah. Well, not one party. It's like one, even a bucket. Like if you pick social issues or financial issues or whatever, I don't typically vote the presidential position based on any of those. First of all, none of them are that important to me. Like I don't, I don't have a dog in any one of those fights necessarily, but mostly when I choose a presidential candidate, I, I'm voting based on character. Like I'm voting character because I view our commander in chief and the executive, the top executive in our country as being the person who's going to be in the room when it's time to meet with heads of state and to otherwise go to these summits on our behalf and speak to heads of state. And I want them to represent me. And I want them to represent me with character and integrity. And I want to know that they're not putting their own interest ahead of, you know, the country because they represent me and they have a very strong position in representing me as an American, as a, as a constituent. And this is why I just, I vote character. I want to know that this person is going to stand with character on a global stage. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, one of the things with, with having Jim's mom here and, and, you know, talking with her and the, the convert, because it just, it's the time of the year that those kinds of things creep into the conversation. And Jim, a couple of times is like, ladies, I'm not going to talk about this change of topic, but, but, and, uh, uh, There is, you know, just from some of the things, the things I've read, all of that, there is a pretty even split of when you look at this, you know, two party thing, this pretty even split. And it's interesting because one, you know, both of them are like, you're an idiot. No, you're an idiot. You're an idiot. No, you're an idiot. And just, and this kind of thing of like, what I believe is true, what you believe is true, what I believe is true, what you believe is true. And that's a really interesting thing to kind of dive into, um, where, um, You know, when someone says, I can't believe, it's like, but half the population does, so why? What is it that is creating a trigger or a, it's just, it's like, I feel very emotional. You can't say half the population. You can say half of the energized. Half of the energized, thank you. Half of the active vocal population is, you know, one way or another. Right. And and to, you know, this whole talking for the understanding and not trying to do that, you know, to boom, boom, boom. This is what I think. But understanding that your brother, that half of this, they feel that the reason why they feel so energized is because they don't because they either don't feel heard or. Or it's just like, this is something that is so important to my core. And so it's like, how can we really understand why some of these things affect people to the core? And it's like, people are born in different places, different times. It's like I've got the I've got a son who, who, um, a child who is queer and I've got a child who is not, is like a polar opposite to that. And it's, it's like, there is, there is, Both are valid. They're reasons. Both people are valid because it's like, you know, we talk about your perspective is my reality. Right. And I, as a buy her, pay her dealer, can't just shove down the customer's throat. No, my perspective is right. No, my perspective is right. No, my perspective is right. Right. It's like, it's this thing of coming together and it's like, I want to understand your perspective and then let's have a conversation about it because the other person's perspective is valid, right? It may not be that whole, I'm always putting things on social Facebook where you're looking at something, it looks like a circle. And then someone standing somewhere on the side, no, it's a square. Well, what it is, it's a cylinder. And so it looks from the side like a rectangle, from the front like a circle. It's like both perspectives are correct, but they're not complete. But you would never have that if you didn't step over to the side with an open mind. All of the travels that we have done, all of, you know, talking with people all over the place. I've had the blessing of being able to travel a lot of the world as well. Humans are good. Yeah. Yeah, we see that. Humans... They really are. They want to feel safe. All humans want to feel safe. They want to feel a part of community. They want to have food in their belly, a roof over their head. Humans, people, are good. And that includes all of the things, you know, when I'm looking, it's like, good, good. So how do we bring it together? I would say that the other version of good that I see is not only to pick somebody in middle America. not only do they want to have a roof over their head and and food for their family but they want their neighbors to have that too yeah that's the part that I think is like you know if I just make it me me me and take care of me and I'm gonna vote for whoever's gonna take care of me then that's one thing. But if you're going to think about, and I would generally say that what you described is true as we travel. It's like we see that, and this is not just also through social media and places we interact with, the grocery store and just anywhere. It's like, I think what you can see is that if you just listen to the news, you would, regardless of which channel you listen to, you would believe that the other side is, you know, evil and out to do the country harm. And if, if elected, they'll cause you this problem. And the other side is saying the opposite. And so in the middle, you've got all these people who are, um, they genuinely want what's good for their neighbor. They genuinely want what's good for this country. And, um, and they generally don't want to hate them. Yeah. Yeah. The hatred. They don't want to be angry. And they don't. Yeah. They just they just want. Can I just have a peaceful existence and just like let people be people and let people, you know, they're not bothering me. And it's not to say that people can't shouldn't mobilize. And obviously when around matters of presidential races, then you mobilize. And I think but I think one of the things we have to draw is a distinction. Like I see some of the questions coming in is one is, you know, how would each party impact the auto industry? I'm just going to say that I don't think the president has that much impact. And I would never vote the president based on my industry. Yes, that's how I make my living. But the presidential seat is so much bigger than my industry. Well, it is. Isn't it supposed to be that as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, which are about how our country... presents itself on a world stage. That's one of the biggest roles. And I think the fact that they carry that responsibility says a lot to me about who that person is and what the role of the executive branch in our government is. So, you know, we can have another civics class one day and talk about the branches of government. But I think what I'm hearing, when it comes to auto industry, I think that's a legislative branch matter. And the president, if enough people in the legislative branch favor it, then the president will sign it. If they won't sign it, then we've got a problem. We've got something we've got to do. But I haven't seen that to be the case. I think if the legislative branch, it's the legislative branch that we would work through. I mean, when NIADA and NADA have a problem, they don't go meet with the president. They go meet with their representatives. So I think that's really a matter where I don't think you vote your president based on your industry. I don't even think, I wouldn't recommend to people that they vote based on their industry. particular personal social issue what matters to them so so it's like and I get it we all kind of live in this thing where we're most energized around the thing that is most important to us that's I get it I would simply say that Maybe we should consider looking beyond that and deciding when we choose our commander in chief. Because when the commander in chief is sitting with some head of state in another country and they're talking about some conflict that is about lives of men and women, I don't think it's going to have anything to do with that social issue that's so important to you back home. I don't think that's what they're talking about. And so to me, that's what when we choose a president, that's always been way back since I've chosen candidates. And since I've chosen to vote, I have chosen to go with the person I think is going to be the best representative for my nation on a global stage. The end. And so that's where my, so I draw that line. So, so, and I would say I would make the prediction. That's why I said, when we make some prediction, I'm not going to tell you, you know, Trump's going to win or some other candidate is going to win. I'm going to make the prediction that the American people will do what has to be done. I'm going to predict that the American people do what has to be done collectively. They will stand up and do what has to be done in order to make sure that this country continues to progress and that it maintains its standing. And be united? Yes. Um, I'm more cynical about that than I once was. I mean, I think progress is slow. That's the part that frustrates me, the whole loggerheads thing. And, you know, you've heard me talk about this in a political context, and this is really more of a, you could say it's politics, but for me, it's more of a chess move. Like, I think, I think if you could get about three to 7% of the electorate to choose some people down the middle, um, then you could begin to break up this loggerheads. That is the two parties, you know, back and forth, back and forth. And what happens is that one president is, you know, is elected and now it sways over here for four years. And now it's back over here for four years. But it's like loggerheads, loggerheads. We're both fighting. We're both out there trying to win the, the what the soundbite war every day. And so it just gets ridiculous. And so that's the part that for me on the outside, from a, from a chess move standpoint, if I were to try to, break that log or jam or that log jam. I would be trying to get some people elected down the middle who could pull and could start to create compromise. Yeah, and that's the big thing is being able to have compromise and being able to communicate and someone who can listen with the intent to understand and then move from there. Well, I'm just saying by just by virtue of how the voting works, I'm just saying purely is why I say it's a logical move. It's a tactical move. It's like in terms of getting some movement on the vote. And so let me let me be let me be the leader of that 7% that shows up in Washington and sits in the middle. What I'm going to do is I'm going to call the parties together. We're going to hear their sides and then we're going to say, okay, our group has elected to go with, you know, this party on this matter. And so you're out unless you can bring some compromise. If we can find some compromise that we can all vote on. Otherwise we're over here and we have the votes to go. And you know, it's interesting. I was, we were, I was having a conversation with, um, one of our colleagues that, that last week, and we were talking about just in business, you know, bringing this person in as, as an advisor or whatever. And it's like, you may be, you may like feel very strongly about a, I may feel very strongly about B and the intent is to come to C. And it's just like, where can we honor the things that are important to both and find a common balance where it's like everyone can walk away and go, I had a part in helping create that. I feel heard. I feel appreciated. Yeah. And I think before that, I mean, the compromise part is important, but I think the thing that troubles me is in the news right now, what you're seeing is that what makes the news is the sensational parts, which is the polarized, the loudest group on each side makes the news. that's the thing that's most concerning to me is to watch. And it's just the, and I don't, you know, it doesn't matter what end of the camp, cause I'll watch one and then I'll look at the other. And it is just, it's all, it's the term fear mongering. And there's just like, you know, you take a, you take a quote and it gets twisted into something ugly, either direction. And it just becomes, you need to be afraid. You need to be afraid because fear sells and, And it gets people to watch more. But the problem is that when you create enough fear that people react out of fear. I'll make one more prediction. You ready? Okay, go. I'm going to predict high voter turnout. I hope so. I really, really do. I'm predicting. I think people will turn out for this election. I hope so. And vote, yeah. I really do. I believe they will. And then when that happens, the majority will have spoken. Mm-hmm. And it's the part, this is no longer prediction. I'm just saying what, what we have to be watchful of is, you know, we live in a country that's ruled by the majority and I prefer it that way. That's, you know, seventh grade civics class. That's what we learned. It's like, that's how the vote works and that's how the electoral college works. And yeah, we can be cynical and talk about all the other influences of big, big dollars and we can go there. But I'm saying with this company or country still has, um, a system that allows us to be governed by the majority and sometimes it's frustrating to be in the minority and so you go around and you vote again next time but in the meantime you don't you don't get loud that doesn't solve anything you don't remind when you're talking earlier about you know conflicts I was thinking about my dear friend back in texas who I really loved and respected but I had to tell him one time I said you know nobody's ever won an argument based on volume You don't win an argument based on volume. So anyway, so it's like, you know, you're certainly not going to win one with me based on being loud. But in fact, you're probably going to, you know, shut people off typically. But I'm saying the majority is going to speak. And when the majority speaks, I hope those who are in the minority will step back and say, okay, I'm in the minority. I get it. I'm going to still express my thing. And I'm going to recognize that I live in a country that feels differently than I feel right now as a body. And I'm not going to get loud, and I'm certainly not going to get violent. And I would suggest, strongly suggest, is that recognize that whatever happens with the majority... that it's like it you can call it a name and you can be angry about it because I've seen it from both sides it's like anger anger anger anger anger anger and it's just like venom venom poison poison towards the the other direction it's like if if if uh you know when the majority speaks it's like I'm hoping that before it gets to that point that we approach this in a spirit of understanding and in a spirit of empathy and a spirit of love, dare I say. It's just love. You can certainly step into a conversation with empathy, but I would say you can't have understanding until you listen. Okay. True. So you got to start with just listening. You got to be willing to listen and hear people all the way through. Hear them out. And listen to them without... without I'm I'm adding all the ticks of the things that I have to now address and you know this is why you're wrong this is why you're wrong this is why you're wrong because I have watched it again from both both sides is that it's that it's listening to respond but not listening to understand and listening to argue but not listening to compromise or to come together and let's Let's just recognize that as long as there's been a constitution, there have been opposing ideologies. There has been, yes. There have been opposing ideologies all along. And so that will continue to be the case. You're not going to get everybody to unite and agree. And it's not going to be kumbaya around this one issue. It's just probably not ever going to be that way. But what we have to have is have a system that we can all trust and that we can participate in. and accept the results and not get more agitated because, you know, we watch kids with a tantrum. No, you can throw a tantrum, but you're not getting a sucker. You know what I mean? It's like... That's that we can't we can't condone that sort of behavior in in any kind of a system because it just doesn't serve anybody. And we need to focus on the work at hand and not on the tantrums. And so I think this is where, you know. Right now, tantrums is what makes the news. And I think if we have our track of news, then we're obviously going to get fed a certain way of thinking. And if we don't really go listen to the other side or find some place in the middle where you can get some good information, then it's just natural. If we sit in an echo chamber... kind of expected what's going to be the outcome, right? So it's just, you know, for us, I think for me to wade into the political thing, especially the presidential race, I just wanted to be able to say, can we talk about voting on something that is... So I kind of teased the thing and said, who should... I would recommend used car dealers vote based on character and trust. Do they trust the candidate to, as their commander in chief and as their president, to represent the interests of their business, their family, the end? Mm-hmm. that's how I would recommend used car dealers vote that's how I would recommend anybody vote is based on for the commander in chief it's like on a world stage does this person represent at the other levels sure talk about different things and different issues and you might decide based on somebody based on a certain issue but I think yeah at the presidential level we we want somebody who's going to have character and represent us with character on a global stage So, again, what is my prediction? I have two predictions. Basically, that people will show up at the voting booth. That it will be a very high turnout. It will be a high turnout. And I believe that the good, that is the American populace, that is, you know, are there troublemakers? Sure. Are there people who are violent and whatever? Of course. it's my belief and it's my observation that there are lots of really well-meaning people in this country. They'll stand up. Yeah. This just made me think of something that I, I, frequently with my children. And I believe this because the reason why I have this ideology is because I saw it play out on a world stage. And that is no one can make you feel anything. No one can make you do anything through your feelings. You choose. Mm-hmm. You choose if you're angry, you choose if you lash out, you choose if you get violent. No one makes that choice for you. And so for me, it's asking all of our listeners to be responsible of how they move forward and knowing that I need to, that I own my feelings, my actions, no one, and put yourself in a position where you know, there may be fear, fear, fear. It's like, no, I get to choose how I feel and I get to choose how I react based on those feelings and no one. And I, like I said, global stage, cause I, I told the story and I'll tell it just to our audience about why this means so much. And my kids remember this or, you know, and they'll come and say, so-and-so did such and such. And I'm like, I would like to hear the other side of the story because, you know, if I were to just listen to you, it would be the, be all of this. But, I read an article, and this is accounts from many, many people that during World War II, at the end of World War II, when the Allied forces... went into Germany and some of the other areas that had concentration camps. We know the atrocities, the just horrific. And if anyone had a reason to be bitter and angry and be full of hate, it would be those people that were sitting behind bars or sitting behind those gates. And that one of the things that, that in many of the concentration camps that they had happen as they freed them is they took the, the jailers and they lined the street so that those that they're leaving, that, that, that the people leaving were, would pass through them and it's like and and that the intent was is see what you have done see what you have done and so the story um the things the accounts that I've read is that people would pass that the the uh the people that were in the concentration camps and they were you know primarily jew but lots of you know gypsy and polish and all of that There would be those that would just come by and they would spit on the and then curse and all of that, curse the jailers. And then there were those that embraced and forgave, literally, physically went up to those and put their arms around them and said, I forgive you. And so we have an opportunity. No one can make you behave. It is a personal, internal thing. And so I would just strongly suggest that we remember that we get to be an individual and be responsible for how and, and, and choose to be responsible for how you speak, choose to be responsible for how you, how you react to things and understand that, that once we allow someone to make us feel something, we have just given away our personal power because now they're in control of, of the things. But we, it's, it's, We choose. We choose whether or not we give away that power. I would just say, probably for me, I could close with just the idea that if I'm able to speak to any used car dealers today, their managers, any of those people, I would just say, I would just challenge anybody who's engaged in this campaign, especially when they're feeling at some level of stress. I would say a couple of things. Turn off your TV more. Listen to the TV less. The other thing would be make a decision, make a conscious decision to choose to operate with an open mind. That's number one. This could be true in your business. When you're in the office today, have your mind open. That's in conversations with your employees, conversations with your customers. Have an open mind. And then as you listen to them, this is borrowed from something on social media. We've heard different parts of this before. But as you listen to them, listen from a place of curiosity and empathy. Ted Lasso, yeah. Well, Ted Lasso said, what was the word? How do you say it? With curiosity, not judgment. Yes. So the same thing here. It's like, listen, with curiosity and empathy. Leave the judgment aside. That means you bringing your own views into the thing. Open your mind. Listen with empathy. Listen with that expectation of understanding. Because I do believe that there's more commonality. I think there's so many ways that people can come together and not feel angry towards each other. It doesn't mean at the end of that conversation and the end of listening to them that you have to do exactly what it is they want to do. But when you hear them fully, and you have that empathy for what's going on, then now you can make a better judgment. And you can also compromise. It's a better way to compromise. You can choose to compromise, whatever the outcome is going to be, but to do it based on limited information and judgment. And emotion. Yeah, it doesn't serve us. That's enough for me. Wow. Okay. This has been a topic that... Yeah, a little bit of a departure. And, you know, some of the comments were like, well, how does this affect Buy Here Pay? It's like this, it does. It does. It's just like how we show up and how we want to communicate with others. And that's kind of the basis. Occasionally, we're going to talk about something bigger than Buy Here Pay. That was our Monday. Hey, everybody, thank you for making us part of your Monday. We appreciate your support and listening. If you want to be able to listen again, some of our social media accounts, you can see and see other things and listen to other episodes, or go to YouTube. our YouTube channel, like and subscribe and so you can kind of get more content on what some of the mostly 99.9% is about buying or paying. So I hope you guys all have a great day. Thanks again so much for joining and have a great rest of your week.
