Apparently, though, cars are used in the city all the time. Who knew? Well, Pat Schlossberg, for one.
“Where I'm at, it's everyday working people,” she says of her car customers.
Pat owns and operates Accessories Unlimited at 4656 S. Western Ave. Dealing with the sale and installation of custom body parts, Pat knows all about the car culture in Chicago .
“I don't see a ton of re-inventing of the wheel on an older car, unless it's a classic,” she says. “Those customers are different breed entirely.”
Apparently, plenty of people in Chicago also have minor body work done on their car all the time. Why, on the day I talked with Pat, someone ordered a Cadillac grill for their Seville . Most of the traffic she gets is for pricier cars. Of course, this implies that those who own cars and do have work performed on their car have a disproportionate amount of disposable income when compared to the average Chicagoan. I would imagine they are primarily lawyers, politicians and clowns.
This idea is driven home by Pat, when she tells me that she gets “more traffic in SUV customers – Durangos , Escalades.”
Based on what I know of SUVs, I've come to understand only evil people buy them, i.e., lawyers, politicians and clowns. I'm sure I'm right about this.
I ask Pat if she thinks the CTA hurts her business, discouraging car ownership.
“No,” she says. “I'm sure there are a lot of people that take public transportation. They weren't our customers to begin with.”
Interesting. People who don't own cars – like myself – don't have work done on the cars they don't own. This is a breakthrough. And it means only one thing: I must watch MTV.
MTVs primary oeuvre is, of course, teenage fantasy. For example, the show “Pimp My Ride,” and corresponding Web site give me an outlet to all those teens watching the show that wish they had enough bank to screw around on a beater car, turning it into something worthy of P. Diddy. The site also features a “Ride Pimper” that lets users “play super-mechanic and compile the ultimate cruisin' machine.” In other words, people like me, who have no car, money or friendship with Xzibit, get to imagine what it would be like to be on the show.
[Side note: I can't help but call to attention the terminology used in the show's title, “Pimp Your Ride.” I believe they are using an improper form of the verb “pimp.” According to dictionary.com, the word means, “to procure women for the gratification of other's lusts.” At best, this means the show tries to get people to sell their cars for other individual's gratification. Grammatically speaking, a better title for the program would be “Make One's Vehicle Like That of a Pimp.” Of course that's not as catchy.]
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