Tucson Branch: Fill & Download for Free

This is the story of Tucson Prime.No, not the car. Tucson Prime is this good boi.The tale of how a Brazilian stray dog’s persistency got him into places- a home, a job, and now, straight into the hearts of a billion dog lovers!This lonely pooch used to turn up at a Hyundai motors branch in Brazil every other night. Though he was looked after each night and sent back on his way, the chap used to return the next night without fail.And on one rainy night, the manager Emerson Mariano let him in to have some food and water. From then, it became all too difficult to keep the faithful friend away from the dealership. There were some grunts, but eventually, the branch decided to adopt him and give him a new name- Tucson Prime, after the company’s flagship SUV.Tucson had an extremely docile nature and friendly temperament. Almost as if he knew the way to people’s hearts, which gave the showroom guys an idea.They hired him as their “pawfessional consultant” and put him in charge of “meeting and greeting” prospective customers!They even gave him a brand new ID card.Well, Tucson quickly rose through the ranks to become the Em”paw”yee of the year, as the customers not only gave extremely positive reviews about the good boi but also occasionally returned to the dealership to say hi to the pooch!Things have now gotten into another level with Tucson as he is now a star with an Instagram account tucson_prime with more than 150k followers and is also set to feature in a new Hyundai national advertisement campaign!But Tucson likes to keep things simple. And he has only one message for all of you.“Be good to everyone, keep good thoughts in mind and walk clear of your bad memories, there’s a lot of good hope in the future, and trust me, you’re all gonna get there”Woof!!

A few years ago I was driving a friend to get the cast off her arm, then checked by her surgeon. That meant a 3 hour drive each way, at least half of it in the middle of nowhere.On the way there, during the middle of nowhere part, there started being some noisiness under the car, like something whacking at my tires. I pulled over, thinking I’d picked up a branch, maybe some tumbleweed.But it turned out to be a piece of covering on the front part of the undercarriage, a strip that had somehow torn and was now hanging down and yes, whacking dangerously at one of the tires, with us still close to a hundred miles to go.I could live without that strip, but couldn’t live without the tire, so I got out the hunting knife in my glove box and started sawing away at the thing, expecting a quick job with those gnarly teeth.But the damn thing was shockingly tough, can’t imagine how it tore. I figured I’d get through it eventually, but hell, at that rate my friend would be late for her appointment!I kept sawing as fast and hard as I could, until suddenly, out in the middle of nowhere, an unlit, unsirened ambulance pulled up.It didn’t occur to me their stopping had anything to do with me, until they called out asking if I needed help.I explained the situation, complained about our race against time for a doctor appointment, how far we had to go, and that my badass knife was gravely disappointing me.The one on the passenger side leapt out, rummaged in the back a minute, and hurried over with his medical snips, which went through that fucking thing like butter!I stood there googly-eyed, until he inquired whether I’d be needing anything else. Before I could stop myself, I blurted, “Funny you should ask! The whole reason we gotta go to Tucson is to get my friend’s cast off — I bet you could do that in about 3 seconds with that proper tool there!”.I knew as I said it that, even as Wild West as it is out here, the country’s too deeply enmeshed in lawsuit culture for that to ever happen, but I had to ask.The entire incident took about a tenth as long as I’d spent sawing on that thing, then they got a call and had to race off to their next savior act.

I joined the Marine Corps in 1968 because they were the first door on the right on Congress Avenue in Tucson. Vietnam was happening and I had been bounced from the University of Arizona with a handwritten note at the bottom of the letter that said, “We will advise your draft board of your availability.”I had no guarantees when I enlisted for four, just a bus ticket to Phoenix where I would go the Armed Forces Entrance and Examination Station (I still remember that. “Turn your head and cough” was about all they did.I did my tour, got an honorable discharge as a sergeant and got out after three years, 11 months and 29 days. I went to college on the GI Bill and then enlisted in the Army in 1979. I retired in 1995.Had I been a better student, I probably wouldn’t have been drafted because I would have graduated in 1972 and the draft ended in early 1973. I would have been one of those people who would be saying “thank you for your service” today.The military was easy for me. Less than five percent of the time truly sucked. I made it to six continents and met great people from throughout the world. The key to a successful military career is to go where they tell you to go and do what they tell you to do.I’ve been retired for 23 years and every month the check clears the bank.