On Thu, May 12, 2005 2:44 pm, Rich Werning said:
>
> I have to agree with Jason on this.
Heh... after thinking about it a bit more, I'm not sure if I agree with
myself. If someone refuses to sell me something just because they're
afraid it won't work and I'll bring the broken parts and demand a
replacement, I usually say butt out and let me worry about the details of
my project. Like I said before, the conversation usually goes like this:
"I need parts X, Y and Z."
"Oh, ummm... what exactly are you trying to do, anyway?"
"Obviously I'm trying to purchase an X, a Y, and a Z, now do you want my
business or don't you?"
I mean, for all we know, this guy might have been trying to install a mini
bar in his Lazy Boy :-).
HOWEVER... when safety becomes an issue, then things get murkier.
Just because I usually try to see any issue from all possible sides before
making up my mind, here are a couple of counter arguments that have
occurred to me.
> And, if he really was dumb enough to use them on his brake lines, well
> then we'll probably have a new candidate for the Darwin awards fairly
> soon.
Yep, if all he does is smashes up his own car, then too bad because it's
his own damned fault. Hypothetically though, what if said Darwin
candidate crashes through a busy crosswalk or school playground or
something? It's easy to argue that this could potentially become an issue
of public safety, the big question is how big a risk is it? At what point
do we draw the line between concerned citizen and hand-wringing killjoy?
Or, to take the extreme example, what if you were working in a hardware
store and someone came in looking for what was obviously parts for a pipe
bomb? I'd say it's your civic duty not to sell him the stuff, but then
he'll just go get it someplace else. Do you sell it to him anyway, and
report him to the police? In that case, maybe that's the best thing to
do. But in Tom's case I'd imagine the police aren't going to be too
concerned about someone who might have questionable brake parts until
*after* they fail and it winds up on the news.
So, Tom, the only thing I've decided for sure is that this isn't an easy
question to answer, and I don't really envy the position you were in. At
least you had the guts to stand up for what you thought was the right
thing to do. Whatever this guy eventually ends up doing, I'd say you're
to be commended for standing behind your principles.
-- Jason Bleazard http://www.bleazard.net Burlington, Ontario his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black
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