Sunday, April 3, 2011

no idling

Yesterday was my first day back at the shop since last May. As Jon and I pulled up early Saturday morning, there was a guy waiting in his SUV for the shop to open. His window was down, yet the vehicle was running as we walked by, said "hi" and went inside.

He stayed out there, running his vehicle while we got a few things taken care of before opening. He even stayed in his car after the shop opened. When he finally came in to pick up a headset we'd set aside for him on a previous day, Jon didn't mention this pet peeve: idling cars.

We see it all the time; people leave their cars running while they go grocery shopping. They leave them running while picking up their kids from school. All over Anchorage, and the country, people leave their cars running. I figure gas prices aren't all that high until people turn their engines off when they run into a store "for just a minute." Such wasteful creatures, we humans.

Endurance cyclist Jay Petervary is trying to bring more attention to the issue, and good for him for stopping by the shop before beginning his bike ride from Knik to Nome this year. He left a sign that is now in the shop window and a few stickers. When the customer wasn't looking, Jon slipped one of those "no idle tour" stickers into the headset box. Just a suggestion.

Thanks for not idling. Trackstanding, on the other hand, is certainly acceptable.

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