Did you ever feel out of place?
I went to the Cloister Car Wash last week to get the oil changed in the Buick.
They do more than wash cars, they change your oil and other things that I’m not familiar with. Afterwards you receive a coupon for a FREE car wash. My husband normally takes care of such things, but since he was taking me out for Valentine’s Day in the city on Saturday, I decided to help him out with his to-do list!
Unfamiliar with the protocol, I approached the check-in desk at Cloister with some hesitancy. Even though I’m a mechanic’s daughter, and I’m familiar with car terminology, like: oil filter, transmission, engine, and window washer fluid, I still felt a teensy bit out of place.
I gave my name to the young mechanic while he looked up my information in the computer.
He hesitated and then blurted out, “Mark…right?”
“No, actually, I’m his wife, Connie, but it’s our car.”
“Did you know you’re overdue for an oil change?” he asked.
“No, I didn’t know that, but it’s a good thing I’m here because you folks take care of that sort of thing—right?”
“Yes, Mamm, we sure do!”
He told me to pull the car around behind the Jeep, leave the keys in the ignition, and have a seat in the waiting area.
In unfamiliar surroundings, I follow the behavior of other people, so I did exactly as they did: I helped myself to the free drinks, sat on hard benches, and flipped through “Field and Stream Magazine.”
Two hours later, I simply couldn’t understand what was taking so long.
I listened intently as the names of other people were called out:
“Lexus…Mercedes…Kia…” But still no “Connie.”
After three 12-ounce cups of Mountain Dew in my bloodstream, I was ready to climb through the walls and under the hood of my car!
Finally, I got up enough nerve to get off the hard bench and check to see if there was something wrong with my Buick.
I could see through the garage windows that there was only one car left—MINE! I asked “Rob” if there was a problem.
He said, “No, everything checked out just fine!”
I shook my head and said, “Is there any reason why you didn’t call my name when the car was done?”
“Rob” looked at me sympathetically and said, “I’m sorry, but we called out ‘Buick’ several times, but no one came.”
I bent over and laughed as tears fell on the grease-stained floor.
“Mamm, are you okay?”
“No, I’m fine; I’m just trying to figure out how I’m going to explain this to my husband. “
“I’m sorry you had to wait so long. For your trouble, here’s two FREE coupons for a car wash—one for you and one for your husband. How’s that?”
I thanked him, paid my bill, and quickly got out of “Dodge.”
It’s not the first time, I felt out of place, but this time I got two free car washes. And I learned that there are six types of salmon in the United States and Canada. And did you know that the female salmon lays anywhere from 2,000 to 17,000 eggs during the spawning season?
P.S. Guess what I had for dinner in the city?
