# Trying to Assist Idiots...



## lars (Sep 28, 2004)

This is an amusing hobby and sport... I've been involved in racing Pontiacs and musclecars since the early '70s; I've been an instructor at a GM Training Center; I've been building and restoring musclecars and Corvettes for over 40 years; I've been the Editor of an International Car Magazine; I have dozens of articles published by automotive magazines and SAE trade journals; I conduct 2-day Tuning for Performance Seminars at locations all over the World; and I build engines, carbs, distributors and cars for people from all over the U.S. I also make myself available for technical consultation, and I answer 50 to 75 tech request e-mails every day at no charge.

Generally, the enthusiasts are genuine and sincere. But there are some real morons in the basket. Here is today's bottom-of-the-barrel guy from this GTO Forum... tell me what you think:

From: John
Need a 70 455 ant leads? Inexpensive ???
Sent from my iPhone
(no signature or name)

Reply from me:
I have no idea what an "ant lead" is. Sorry.
Lars

From: John
Sry any leads
Sent from my iPhone
(no signature or name)

From me:
I have been involved in racing and restoring cars for 40 years, but I don't have a clue what a "sry any leads" is either. I answer questions for, and assist, people who can communicate, spell, and who have a genuine interest in the hobby. 

Dr. Lars Grimsrud
Denver

From: John
Yeah ok Lars thanks for nothing.
Your a jerk 
Sent from my iPhone
(no signature or name)

From me:
PG-rated blow-off response giving him my name, address and phone number if he wants to come see me. I'm a good-sized guy, and I actually get in the mood on occasion to go to a bar and pick a fight just for amusement. I hope John comes and sees me. I'll let everyone know if he shows up...

Lars


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## chuckha62 (Apr 5, 2010)

Funny!

I participate in another forum for Novas as well as this one. 

Awhile back, a guy (presumably younger, but who really knows?) wrote a question on one of the forums. It was so frustrating to read, as there was not a speck of punctuation, not a single capitalized letter, too numerous misspelled words to mention and I truly could not make sense out of what the guy was asking. Apparently others could not make sense of it either. 

When one of the other members suggested that he would get a better response if he punctuated, capitalized, and spelled better, he got indignant and told the guy that this is just the way he writes and he (we) should just get used to it. A couple of exchanges later, he got pissed off and was subsequently banned form the forum.

The dumbing down continues...


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## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

I don be unerstandin wut all the fus be about! ?


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

I'm confused ..... is this a technical discussion?


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## Icefan71 (Apr 7, 2011)

Lars, next time refer them to this guy...


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

"Idiots" ....... is too kind a word.


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## ppurfield001 (Jan 21, 2008)

lars said:


> This is an amusing hobby and sport... I've been involved in racing Pontiacs and musclecars since the early '70s; I've been an instructor at a GM Training Center; I've been building and restoring musclecars and Corvettes for over 40 years; I've been the Editor of an International Car Magazine; I have dozens of articles published by automotive magazines and SAE trade journals; I conduct 2-day Tuning for Performance Seminars at locations all over the World; and I build engines, carbs, distributors and cars for people from all over the U.S. I also make myself available for technical consultation, and I answer 50 to 75 tech request e-mails every day at no charge.
> 
> Generally, the enthusiasts are genuine and sincere. But there are some real morons in the basket. Here is today's bottom-of-the-barrel guy from this GTO Forum... tell me what you think:
> 
> ...



If he shows with reinforcements, let me know if you need backup. Your nemesis was probably educated in the era of "everyone gets a trophy.". Understand your frustration.........


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

Lars, You are obviously a guy who knows his "stuff' and love this hobby....TRY to do what I do: Laugh it off...and be glad you weren't an LSD or Crack cocaine birth! :cheers:rofl: Eric


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## lars (Sep 28, 2004)

Josh.AZ.GTO said:


> I'm confused ..... is this a technical discussion?


No, absolutely not. It's a pointless, non-technical, meaningless discussion about a discussion that should have been a technical discussion... Does having a non-technical, pointless discussion about a discussion that should have been a technical discussion make this any closer to a technical discussion..? :lol:



Eric Animal said:


> Lars, You are obviously a guy who knows his "stuff' and love this hobby....TRY to do what I do: Laugh it off...and be glad you weren't an LSD or Crack cocaine birth! :cheers:rofl: Eric


Yeah, I know, you're right. I laugh off most of dumb stuff that comes my way (and you better believe I get a lot of it), and I even try to help out most of the ones showing severe lack of capacity... I even tried to help this guy with 2 chances to communicate in an understandable fashion... and for that, I'm the jerk.

OK, I'm done... back to work. I have a couple of GTO carbs in process right now that have been really hacked up, so the testing should be interesting this afternoon. Also gotta' pop the engine out of a C3 Vette today and do a teardown for the guy, but the tech e-mail line is always open (to most people... my buddy John has been blocked).
:cheers
Lars


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## facn8me (Jul 30, 2011)

Know it all to well. Got a call from a buddy at work. A old guy broke down on his harley and could I help/ I went over and figured out the problem pretty quick. His buddy shows up right as I find the problem. I point out the problem and He then starts looking at other things ignoring me. I attempted to tell him once more. Told the owner good luck and left.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

I'll bet you a buck to the hole of a rolling do-nut that "John" is in his late teens, early 20's - tops. He grew up in an environment where everything was handed to him by well intentioned but misguided parents who thought they were doing the right thing. He has come to expect at this point that all he has to do is "want" something and it will appear in front of him with little or no effort on his part. He's never had to work for anything and wouldn't really know how to. He probably feels like he "worked" by taking the effort to locate and write to you, and may even feel like he should be congratulated for being so clever. Now he's angry because you obviously didn't uphold your end of the bargain, at least in his mind. He sees abcolutely nothing wrong with the notion that "people who have" should be forced by law to "contribute" to "people who don't have" because he lacks any understanding whatsoever about the concept of "earning" anything. He thinks the way the world works is that "people who have" obviously got that way through sheer luck, happenstance, and random chance so obviously they're obligated to "redistribute their wealth" to those who weren't so lucky. He thinks that anyone who dares to think they might actually deserve to keep what they have because they "earned" it, does so out of sheer temerity.

The scary thing is, John, and the millions like him, are the ones who will be responsible for choosing our government for years to come.

Bear


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## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

Hey Lars,

Most of us do genuinely appreciate and value your expertise and assistance! My 19yr old does not do the text/slang thing, but my 15 yr old does. I usually don’t respond to it, or wait for him to give me a complete thought, or at least a sentence with a noun and a verb. Soon, the English language will turn into nothing more than “grunts” and tongue-clicks…


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## Chris-Austria (Dec 23, 2010)

Such a "conversation" reminds me of that..


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

BEAR, I just wound down from a rant on Facebook.....now ya' got me in a "High hover" again!!!!!!!:lol::willy:


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## Icefan71 (Apr 7, 2011)

You know, I'm not too hip on all the modern gadgetry, but I think his phone has that stupid "auto correct" feature. When you type a couple of letters it automatically finishes a word for you. But many times its not the right word. My wife did that once and what she wanted to type turned into an x-rated rant. She quickly figured out how to turn it the heck off. Not making excuses for the guy, but his message makes absolutely no sense. In this day and age, people really rely too much on electronic devices. You'd think he'd want to read it before he sent it.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

Icefan71 said:


> Not making excuses for the guy, but his message makes absolutely no sense.


He was asking Lars if he had any leads on a inexpensive '70 455.

In the age of texting, acronyms is king. To this day I don't understand 90% of them since I don't text and never will....... Not sure the youth of today have the capability to form complete sentences. Some adults have a tough time too.....


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## crustysack (Oct 5, 2008)

I hate people..... especially ones looking for help and then get on the offensive because they have no idea what they are talking about. Pretty much sums up the demise of the USA- young punks with no god damn respect since they have been taught in school that everything will be handed to them- nothing a good smack in the mouth wont fix though--I try and do my part in society to "educated" people who do not understand what respect is- very amusing to see their reaction when I make them accountable for the words that come out of their mouths.


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## rickm (Feb 8, 2012)

haha, the only thing i can think of is he pressed a wrong button while texting and didnt proofread it before sending. NEED A 70 455 ANY LEADS ?


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## AlaGreyGoat (Jul 6, 2006)

A few years back, I would help the kids in my neighborhood fix minor issues with their cars.
They could work in my driveway and I would loan them any tools they needed. I tried to teach 
them how to diagnose problems and repair them. I was able to help a few, but then they would
try to leave their cars here for me to fix for them! No way that was going to happen!
I haven't had a kid visit for help in years.

Larry


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## STIJames (Jun 17, 2012)

I think you have a lot of people like me that did not grow up with these cars and are getting into them because with things like they are. They happen to be less expensive. Muscle cars from the late 90s on to 2006 were out of reach of most normal people wanting to spend money on them. You can buy nicely restored and in good original condition GTO examples for 15 - 25 grand. Those same cars were 50 grand a few years ago. I do not think he meant anything by it but the younger me generation is all about themselves and what they can get and if you do not say or give them the right information then they do what he did. It is kind of like they are smarter than you since they grew up in schools using iPhones, iPads and computers. 

I have the fever to do a Pontiac, Chevrolet or Buick 68-70 a body car just because I have not done one yet.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

Ya'll sound "old" lol.

Lars, with all do respect I think you are making too big a deal out of this. The "young" mans phone probably had the auto correct and simplified his request for a Pontiac 455. You should be happy he was'nt looking for a Honda B22 to put in his Poncho :lol:.

Generalizing about the "younger" or "older" generations will inevitably find the example or exception to the rule. I've modded "old" and "new" cars and some of the young guys out there that tune with HP tuners and SCT and such are truly amazing. I'm an "old school" guy generally when it comes to tuning (I still have a dwell meter and know how to use it!) and a "young" friend of mine helping me with my GTP knows nothing about the magneto and carbs on my GTO but is a shear wizard with DIS and MPI. 

Can't we all just get along? arty:


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

ALKYGTO said:


> Ya'll sound "old" lol.


I -AM- olde... :rofl:



> Generalizing about the "younger" or "older" generations will inevitably find the example or exception to the rule.


Very true. I didn't mean to intimate that _every_ youngster has "this problem", however I do think it's more prevalent in a certain age group than it is in others.



> Can't we all just get along? arty:


Yeah, that'd be nice, and insofar as it depends on yours truly I intend exactly that. There are times though when I come up short on paitence... 

Bear


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Being 23 I'm part of the bad grammar gerneration thats gettin bashed on, most of this is simply due to texting and the fact that using "slang" is cool. Yes, I agree that there is a lot more wrong with my generation than that, my old man raised me right I did grow up around a lot of lazy kids. Dont be overly rough on the kid though. He sent the message from an iPhone which I have and let me tell you the keyboard on those things are small compared to some peoples thumbs. With the "t" being right next to the "y" it can be easy to hit one instead of the other, so instead of any he put ant, honest mistake. He should have proof read it no doubt but I'm sure he meant no disrespect.


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## silversport (Mar 23, 2007)

...until he wrote your (sic) a jerk...

Bill


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

Yeah but the OP is lumping this guy into an overall catagory called 'idiots' and the calling him out so any question of respect/disrespect left the station long ago...


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## facn8me (Jul 30, 2011)

HP11 said:


> Yeah but the OP is lumping this guy into an overall catagory called 'idiots' and the calling him out so any question of respect/disrespect left the station long ago...


I think the disrespect started when the texter thought texting a buisness asking for help at any point was a good idea. Shows he was lazy and in my opinion just wasting a mans time not actually being serious. DOn't care who you are. If you NEED a CHEAP 70 455 you might want to pucker up and add in a lil sweet talkin... Unless them thing are growing on trees.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

You guys are depressingly "on the money" about the whole Entitlement thing that the new generation has been trained to believe in by, as Bear said, well meaning but mis-guided parents. 20 years ago, I had kids banging at my door to mow my lawn, just like I used to do. Now, you can't beg a kid to mow a lawn for cash. That's too much WORK, and WORK IS FOR LOSERS. Bein' a RAP star is where it's really at!!! I honestly think that since about WWII, each successive generation has gotten a little less high-functioning. Manners, Respect for others, Integrity, Punctuality are all losing importance in a world that's all about Instant Gratification and Zero Attention Span. Heck, just try to watch a new movie....the fast editing will make your head spin!! Those of us who respect others and listen to wisdom when we hear it are those who will succeeed in the long run. Thanks, Lars.....I used to go to the GM training center in San Leandro from about '82 to about 2000 or so.....until it was torn down and made into a Honday dearlership that is now closed. Honda even cut down the 200 year old oak tree that GM built the center around in the early '50's. Class Act.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

The wife's daughter is the same way, she's convinced she's going to make millions being a hip hop rock star and plans on going to school for it. I'm like, do you have any idea how many people are actually good at it and don't make it?? We have friends who are in bands that totally rock out on stage and don't make it to the big time. Don't get me wrong, she sings and is not half bad, but come-on....how about a back up plan??


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