Comments on: BVC #19: Get Towed Twice A Year

By: FlyFisher

FlyFisher — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 03:56:45 +0000

Great point. We as people are typically risk averse, and so we miss out on the benefits we would otherwise net if we were risk neutral instead.

By: Stella Reid

Stella Reid — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:32:12 +0000

Thank you for that. I have learned that fear is good as long as I do not allow it to make my decision on how I do things.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:49:02 +0000

This is a really great video. It’s hard for most people to take that risk because of security. Getting into a comfortable situation where you have a good job and you live a certain lifestyle that you don’t want to give up by taking a big risk. Also, failure makes you stronger. Most people come out of a situation strong and learning so much from it.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:03:07 +0000

Parking at South Beach can be a real problem sometimes but I thought I found a nice solution tucked away between two buildings.

Sadly, I was mistaken and when we came out of the Movie Theater the car was gone. Luckily for us the Towing company was only 10 feet down the road! Worst $180 I ever spent.

By: ChristianPF

ChristianPF — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:02:39 +0000

Good Video Jim – I think it is funny that this has turned into such a literal discussion of towing, but the point is a great one. Failure is our friend – if we let it be!

By: Reagan

Reagan — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:00:57 +0000

Many business travelers follow a similar risk/reward strategy for flying. If you fly almost every week, then plan to arrive at the airport to where you will be at the gate no earlier than when the plane has already started boarding (the closer to takeoff the better). You will probably miss a few flights a year, but the extra hours on those occasions are much less than say arriving 30 minutes early times 60 flights a year. Of course I wouldn’t recommend using this strategy if you have a very important meeting close to your arrival time

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:41:38 +0000

Getting my car towed twice last year cost $500 and 6 hours each time. And really, $1000 is nothing. After all, purchasing a $12 parking ticket and then having to find a valid spot is way too much of a hassle.

By: eric

eric — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:55:11 +0000

hahah. yeah i hope people don’t take the towing thing seriously. it’s just a way of illustrating the point.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:02:32 +0000

How are your fuel injectors? I believe it’s a good idea to never go below 1/4 tank if you want them to work properly and last a long time, but that could be BS. Also, get a life.

By: T. AKA Ricky Raw

T. AKA Ricky Raw — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:06:59 +0000

Great video. I’d also recommend this link for evaluating risks:
http://www.powerseductionandwar.com/archives/the_iraq_war_an.phtml

It’s from Robert Greene, author of 48 Laws of Power, and it describes difference between a risk and a gamble. Good reading for figuring out whether a risk is acceptable or not.

By: The Other Schmitty

The Other Schmitty — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:51:53 +0000

I also don’t like the towing analogy. In my experience the difference between getting a ticket and getting towed is defined by how much your parking is messing things up for other people. In more rural places the only way you can get towed is by doing something exorbitantly douchey, like leaving your car in the middle of an intersection – something I wouldn’t recommend.

Maybe a better rural rule would be, “If your not getting your car towed out of a ditch twice a year you’re not driving aggressively enough.”

By: Kirk

Kirk — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:34:05 +0000

Okay, I think we’re getting distracted by the analogy. The towing one isn’t one that people like — especially since the risk/reward is very high for little benefit, when you could park a block away for the same benefit of parking. Sorry Jim, bad analogy here.

So, back to your original point, should we step out of our comfort zones to push ourselves beyond the boundaries that we artificially place on ourselves to see if we can succeed or not. Absolutely. Should we just do it for doing it sake… I’m not quite sure I buy that logic. I still believe in calculated risk. The question that bears in mind, is how does one calculate a risk for an unknown reward (or failure). What’s the worse that could happen if you fail? If you can live with it and the reward is greater than your current status quo, then that’s a calculated risk. I think the point here is that people are afraid to take risks or they are afraid of failure, and we’ll never succeed if we’re afraid of either.

By: Fairy Dust

Fairy Dust — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:16:05 +0000

Then my son should be on his way to a remarkably brilliant and successful career considering how many times he’s been towed just since he got his license…

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:23:38 +0000

Getting towed is a risk/reward calculation. If you park illegally (in a major city centre) every day and only get towed twice a year, it’s probably a good risk/reward ratio. It costs $200+ to park close to where I work, so the towing costs might come out to less. (I bike instead…on top of the free parking it’s also lower stress and good for my health).

If you park illegally and get towed twice a year because you don’t want to park a couple blocks away from your destination, then you’re an idiot.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:39:50 +0000

This brings back college memories. Back then, no one ever paid the parking meters because the tickets were seldom issued and when they were, it was only $7 (worth about half a day of paying for the meter).

Towing is probably a weak analogy for the reasons mentioned. A better one might be buying those extended warranty protections for electronics. Everyone probably at least bought it one time, and all we really paid for was those people that intentionally break the unit right before warranty expires so they can get a new one.