re soul-sapping experience at Burger King DTLA (downtown Los Angeles) on Christmas Day 2022 π:
700 E Cesar Chavez
Since the year 2000, I come to LA every year on Xmas Eve π for the holiday π΅show at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This year 12/24/22 , although I keep my car well maintained, I was concerned about my starter because on Christmas Eve day every time I stopped and started it got weaker and weaker to restart.
Normally I would have parked in the parking structure at the concert hall, especially since it's free on Christmas Eve. π
But I was afraid that it would NOT restart and they might have trouble getting a tow truck inside the structure, so I parked at the nearby Burger King in an almost empty parking lot. Then I went to the concert for a few hours.When I came back to my car, as I feared, it would Not start again.
So I was stuck there overnight on Christmas Eve and did not want to leave my car alone for fear of it getting broken into, so I had to stay with it all night.
On Xmas Day no repair shops are open so I was trying to think about what to do. I was pretty sure that at least the manager or owner of the Burger King π would be gracious about it on Christmas day. At least I was close to the Catholic Cathedral and was able to attend the Christmas Mass at 8:00 a.m. and then at 10:00 a.m. as well. ⛪
But around 1:00 p.m. here comes a tow truck and he starts telling me I got to get it OUT OF THE LOT NOW or he's going to tow me to impound with all the extra fees and everything. So I go inside to talk to the manager, and the female manager inside said she did NOT call the tow truck.
So I went back outside and the guy is already putting my car up on his tow truck. I frantically yell " STOP STOP NO " and tell the driver that this manager said she did not call for a tow truck.
So the driver tells me it was the head honcho who called - (a male manager.) I don't know if he called last night or maybe he called in from his home on Christmas Day, he was so ANGRY π‘ about it for some reason.
So this manager was so freaking vexatious about getting my car out of there ON CHRISTMAS DAY he couldn't wait one extra day when every repair shop would be open.
I had one LAST CHANCE to try to start it before this tow truck driver was going to pull me out of there ( and charge me money π°),...
So I turned the key π️ & it sluggishly turned over & it was one of those split second moments if it didn't start it wouldn't start, but if it did I was out of there .
And just by a Miracle- I believe it was a Christmas Miracle (praise the Lord)- the car started and I was able to drive out of there, NO THANKS to the Burger King manager who couldn't wait till the day after Christmas to do business as usual π.
And you wonder why there's a homeless problem. A situation like this could have added one extra homeless to the list, rather than alleviate the problem.
Getting your car towed to impound and paying the fees to get it out of impound probably now starts around $500 in L.A. And it was totally unnecessary. It was a holiday- not very busy- the BK manager could have waited until the next business day (Monday December 26th) to request a tow to remove my vehicle.
But he would NOT have had to do so:
I have my Own tow service (Better World) and I would have been towed to a nearby open auto repair shop and everything would have been quickly solved. This really left a bad taste in my mouth towards this BK manager π.
I will also send a letter to Burger King corporate just reporting why this was totally unnecessary and a lack of Christmas or holiday spirit and TOTAL LACK of normal humanitarian compassion π.
Jay Vonder
BA/BA/M.Div
A Good Citizen Who Cares About Others
