Human psychology is not always the most rational. Anyone who deals with the psychological elements of human nature, such as psychologists as well as attorneys, teachers, or even persons who engage in marketing, will tell you that people are often what is called predictably irrational. You, as a SMOG Check Station Owner, or perhaps a participant in California’s STAR program as run by the Bureau of Automotive Repair, or a participant in the SMOG program as a technician, can probably attest to what you see as the irrationality’s of some of your customers. For example, some of them may try to do automobile repairs themselves, but end up so fouling up their automobiles that the cars need additional service, and fail the required SMOG check just because of the faulty repairs. So, in that sense, the customer pays twice: once in terms of how they do the repairs, and once in terms of paying you to undo the repairs so that they can actually legally pass the SMOG check requirements!
Photo credit: donwest48 via Foter.com / CC BY
Similarly, you may have people who drive around the streets of California with expired licenses due to an inability to pass the SMOG check, and so they risk getting pulled over by the police and subject to very substantial fines for failing to register their vehicles, and comply with California’s requirements against air pollution. Penny wise, and pound foolish as they say.
Seeing Your Own Irrationality vis-a-vis The Bureau of Automotive Repair
Another irrationality of the human mind, however, is that it is often easier to see other people’s irrationality’s than our own. In this way, for example, we often experience station owners, technicians, or others who are in trouble with respect to the Bureau of Automotive Repair, but rather than reach out to a professional, someone who has experience in dealing with the administrative law issues at hand, they, instead, seek to go it alone. However, if they would sit and think for just a moment, they would realize that the Bureau of Automotive Repair has an extremely professional and well-trained staff up to and including lawyers, who know the law inside and out, and are very keen to represent the interests of the Bureau. To go up against them without a commensurate understanding of the administrative and other legal issues, is, in some very important senses, highly irrational!
Reach out to a Professional for Help
In summary, rather than the pot calling the kettle black, be more rational than some of your own customers. If you are encountering issues with respect to the Bureau of Automotive Repair, please reach out for a consultation with someone who is educated in the ways of bureaucracy and the law. You will be glad that you did!