Janice M Cali
Complications in Life
BMW Gas Tank
Life has become too complicated. I'm starting to resent the complications that we have to encounter on a daily basis in our day to day living. It's mostly the small things that are supposed to make our life easier, but somehow miss the mark.
A supreme example is the gas tank cover on most cars. An example, my parents have a 2000 something, not new, Cadillac Sedan of some type. To open the gas tank cover you push a button on either the dash board or on the key chain remote. I drive a 12 year old Volvo, which I love. To open the gas tank cover you flick a button on the driver's door or push a button on the key chain remote. My sister and her husband drive two vehicles, one for work, one for other purposes. The truck, a Chevy, has a button for the gas tank on I think the dashboard and, of course, on the key chain remote. Their newest car, a 2006, I believe, BMW, I'm not sure of the model, but it's one of the smaller ones, and doesn't have quite as many bells and whistles as some, guess how you open the gas tank cover... go ahead guess, look at the picture, it gives a hint. You got it, you push the back edge of the cover.
Now why am I writing about this? My sister and I went to see our parents today taking the Beamer, as it is called by many, and it told us, with a very polite bell that it was thirsty. OK, no problem, pull into a gas station. Now, neither of us knew which side the tank was on, stop, get out and check, passenger side. Move the car so that side is next to the pumps. Now push the button to open the gas tank cover. Where's the damn button, not on the key. Not on the dashboard, maybe inside the glove box, nope not there, we looked everywhere, I pushed many buttons that weren't marked and some that were, I'm the button pusher in the family.
None of this worked. I suppose we could have called her husband and asked how to get the damned thing open but who wants to call a man, sorry guys, and admit defeat in such a simple thing? Not us. Ah ha! The manual, look at the manual, which is a notebook about 1 1/2” wide with a bunch of pages, first go to the index, now what to look under, gas something seemed a good bet, wrong but a good guess, filler was a good one and worked. Filler cover, if I remember correctly, which maybe I don't but that sounds right. Page 116, there it is, how to open the gas filler door, “press on the back edge.”
Wow, is that simple or what? And how long has it been since we've seen a car that is that easy to open the gas filler door? LONG! Safety says you have to have a button, or a key, or something, but everything in a BMW has buttons, you start it with a button, you press the cup holders and they swing out from the dashboard, you press the key into the ignition, but do not turn it, buttons on the steering wheel, everywhere you look that car has buttons that you press but not for the gas tank filler door.
I'm sorry folk but this world is filled with man and woman saving devices, buttons for everything, push one to lock your car, push another to unlock it, and yet another to open the trunk, oh, and push a button to turn on the radio but do it on your steering wheel, not on the dash, and then the push button door locks, no key entries.
Really don't you think that this is getting too simplified, and extremely complicated? What's wrong with using a key to open your door, be it house or car? Or using a key to open the trunk of your car? I remember when gas was $3.00 a gallon, you wanted a gas tank filler door that would lock, or had to be opened by a button from inside the car, this was a good thing, but I also remember the days when a simple little key opened the gas cap, without a filler door covering it and that was easy to use.
Don't misunderstand, I love modern conveniences, I think all the things that make house keeping better and easier are great, I love push button windows, button seats in cars to adjust them, buttons to turn on seat heaters, yes I love 'em. But I am one of the first to admit that they are unnecessary and are apt to break down and cause the cars more problem. Electronic anything is more prone to errors, problems and breakdowns, more parts to go wrong, malfunction, whatever, and the power they take is surprisingly high and always a drain on a cars resources.
This goes for electronic driven houses too. What happens when the house locks you out because you have a cold and it can't recognize your voice? Or, how about the house whose wires get crossed and it closes the garage door when you want it opened? Now here's a good one, an electronically driven bath, that controls the temperature of the bath, the amount of water that should go in it and the speed of the jets when you get in, imagine that one going wrong but while you're in it.
Simplicity folks, modern conveniences when and where they are needed and lose the excess, she says using her laptop computer with wireless connected to her own router and using DSL to connect to the most modern convenience available, the internet.
But really, consistency would be nice, standardize how to unlock a car gas filler tank door. That would be a good start, right?
