Kicking the Tires

I found myself in a mood for a little exploration this morning, so I opened search and the Popular Places tab and scanned the list. The number two place caught my attention, being a guy, and having worked in the industry (RL) a site name like "CARS, CARS, CARS – BEAM Automotive" drew my immediate interest, so I hit the TP button popping over to take a look.

Arriving and waiting to rezz I looked at the traffic numbers and at 123193 the site did see a fair number of SL'ers on a daily basis. A check of my mini-map showed no one in chat range, but the world map showed me that 86 people were on the BEAM Automotive SIM. The building I arrived in was substantial and had on display seventeen automobiles, some even recognizable to their RL counterparts. A fair assumption to think I'd arrived at the virtual dealer's showroom.

As I was about to walk around and kick a few tires, a new arrival landed next to me on the TP platform. And I do mean new, his second day in SL. We exchanged pleasantries and he asked, "Can I work with you?" The avatar who rezzed asked.

"Work with me on what?" I replied and then explained that I didn't work here. Hearing that he wandered away immediately and I sent him an IM explaining that I am a journalist and blogger and whether or not I could ask him a few questions.

I saw his avatar stop, and then turn as he walked back toward where I stood. "Yes, sure." He replied

"What brings you here to this site?" I asked

"I want to work on a job." He responded

"What sort of job are you looking for?" I asked him.

"Selling Cars." Was his reply

"Do you sell cars in real life?" I asked

"No, I want to work in selling cars in second life."

"I see this is your second day in SL, how have you liked it so far?" I asked.

His was a short reply, all he said was, "Yes". After saying it he immediately turned and walked away toward the nearest vehicle and jumped in. I called out to him as he moved away saying, "If you're interested in working here, I'd suggest you contact the owner his name is Monday Beam." I'd done a quick check on the 'About Land' drop down to see the owner's name.

With a no response from him, I went back to looking at cars and kicking tires.