Learning Op

17 September 2007

In the midst of busy lunch hour traffic, I had to slow to a snail’s pace due to a flat tire.  Unquestionably, my luck had run out.  You see, after 24 years of driving, this was my very first flat.

Though the experience would turn out to be an opportunity of sizeable proportion, at the point when I realized I had a flat, I hadn’t a clue what to do; I’d never changed a tire.

Okay fine, go ahead, gloat and snicker.  Schadenfreude all you want.  Because guess what, maybe you took auto mechanics instead of home economics, but I didn’t! 

Oh, and nor did I have a father who knew anything about cars other than the importance of dropping off the family vehicle for servicing every few months. 

No mechanically inclined brothers either!  Maybe there was a handy boyfriend or two, but all I can remember about their hands is that they were all over me, which at the time, I was quite happy about.

Nor did I read that Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance, or like books on car maintenance, which includes the manual in the glove compartment of my car. 

I guess you’ve read everything Zen about your car, plus participated in the workshops then successfully applied all that you’ve learned, hence your glee at my incompetence as one of the few remaining modern girls who is totally inept when it comes to changing a tire etc. etc.  

As I said, go ahead and Schadenfreude all you want; finding pleasure in the misfortune of others is, unfortunately, human.  It helps one detach from the possibility that one could be that poor bugger on the side of the road with a flat tire sporting an expression of despair. 

Of course, what you don’t know is that once I got my car off the road and into a strip mall parking lot, help came out of the woodworks. 

In fact, suddenly I was a beacon for mechanically inclined blokes with radar for a damsel in distress.  This is the upside of being incompetent in certain areas, specifically, areas that blokes are competent in. 

For those of you who experienced Schadenfreude at my initial bad luck, perhaps my change-of-fortune has inspired a perspective shift; say, to sympathetic joy at the flattering attention I received.  Or not.

For my part, I came through this transformed.  That is to say, I made the most of being surrounded by fellas eager to help and I transformed my ignorance into wisdom. 

I now know how to change a tire.  Yippee!

Posted in Best Girlfriend Wisdom

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2 Responses to “Learning Op”

  1. Julie Says:
    September 19th, 2007 at 9:07 pm

    Tildy, I couldn’t give a rat’s arse what you learned about fixing flats…what about the crowd of blokes eager to instruct and do the fixing? Do any men read this blog? If this was a women only, I’d wax graphic on that whole fix-it methodology of men. Anyway, I slid off the road last winter and was actually EMBARRASSED by the frequency of people stopping to ask if they could help, 99.9% of which were blokes of all ages, shapes and sizes. Apparently the Woman-With-Broken-Car Syndrome is a networking device I’d not just neglected, but I’d been completely unaware of prior to that day. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on my mood, I don’t want to experience the events just prior to the Knights’ arrival EVER AGAIN, so that method of meeting men is RIGHT OUT!!!
    Please advise if it’s your opinion I should re-think this.
    Kisses, Tildy!!!
    j.


  2. Tildy Says:
    September 26th, 2007 at 8:46 am

    Hello J,
    I’d like to think there are some blokes out there reading my blogs, but alas, I think fellas seek out blogs on topics less girly, i.e. on cars, the mechanizations of cars, oh and widgets that go in cars, etc. etc. That said, I’m sure they also seek out blogs that ‘feature’ girlies.

    As for confirming my position with your experience: “woman with flat tire = male magnet,” if you’d prefer not to meet your Knight while stranded on the side of the road in the snow, don’t drive excessively during the winter. But do consider such activity during the warmer months; at least you won’t be cold waiting for your Knight to appear!
    Kisses,
    T.


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