Today I had my first experience with AAA. I had to call them because I had a flat tire. What happened? I drove over a nail. Where was I when I got the flat? I'm not sure. I was at home, with my car parked safely in the driveway, when I noticed that my rear driver wheel was slowly deflating.
Since my upper-body strength is nonexistent, I recruited my dad to "help me" (aka take over completely) remove the faulty wheel. But the bolts were on really tight, so my dad couldn't get them unscrewed. He was really frustrated. He blamed it on those groovy guns mechanics use to get those bolts super-sealed.
"Well," he said, grimacing at me. "Call AAA."
"For a flat tire?" I said (stupid question, I know!)
"Well, yeah. What else are you gonna do? We're not going to get the tire off ourselves."
So I found my AAA card...only to discover that it had expired in February. After a frenzied phone call to my mom (she's in charge of AAA stuff and currently out of town), I called AAA and renewed our membership:
(after the renewal process was complete)
Sally: "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Me: "I just need to know, is the renewal effective immediately?"
Sally: "It's in effect as we speak. Are you in need of assistance?"
Me: "Yes, actually."
Sally transferred me to Services, where Will lead me through the standard questions to figure out my situation. This was my favorite part of the exchange:
Will: "Are you in a safe location away from further harm?"
Me: "Yes, I'm at home."
Will: "Alright, your car is parked in the garage?"
Me: "Not exactly."
Will: "So it's out on the street?"
Me: "Well, no. It's in the driveway. We have a carport."
Will: "I see...but it's somewhere where we can send a guy out to fix it?"
Me: "Yes." (finally, a simple question and answer!)
The guy who came to wrestle with my tire brought a fancy carjack that made my puny one look like a piece of scrap metal. When he was finished, I threw the bum tire in my trunk and zipped off to the Honda dealership. When I got there I told the guy:
Me: "I've got a tire with a nail in it in the back."
Guy: "Is it the rear passenger?"
Me: "No, the driver's side."
About 20 minutes later, a different guy retrieved me from the waiting room...
Guy 2: "We looked at your back wheels, but couldn't find a nail anywhere. The tire looks fine."
Me: "No, no, the bad tire is in my trunk. I couldn't drive here on it."
Guy: (looks confused, checks his written report) "That's not what the guy up front said. He didn't mention that. He just said it was the tire on the driver's side in the back."
Me: "Oh, no. I did say that to him, but when I said 'back' I meant 'trunk.' I'm sorry for the miscommunication."
Guy 2 was really nice about the whole thing. I'm sure he was thinking: Just another blonde chick, living up to her reputation as a moron.As for me, I was thinking, You are such a toe-headed bonehead! No wonder there are so many not-nice Blonde Jokes!
And that is why cars and blondes (this blonde, anyway) are a problematic combination!
Since my upper-body strength is nonexistent, I recruited my dad to "help me" (aka take over completely) remove the faulty wheel. But the bolts were on really tight, so my dad couldn't get them unscrewed. He was really frustrated. He blamed it on those groovy guns mechanics use to get those bolts super-sealed.
"Well," he said, grimacing at me. "Call AAA."
"For a flat tire?" I said (stupid question, I know!)
"Well, yeah. What else are you gonna do? We're not going to get the tire off ourselves."
So I found my AAA card...only to discover that it had expired in February. After a frenzied phone call to my mom (she's in charge of AAA stuff and currently out of town), I called AAA and renewed our membership:
(after the renewal process was complete)
Sally: "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Me: "I just need to know, is the renewal effective immediately?"
Sally: "It's in effect as we speak. Are you in need of assistance?"
Me: "Yes, actually."
Sally transferred me to Services, where Will lead me through the standard questions to figure out my situation. This was my favorite part of the exchange:
Will: "Are you in a safe location away from further harm?"
Me: "Yes, I'm at home."
Will: "Alright, your car is parked in the garage?"
Me: "Not exactly."
Will: "So it's out on the street?"
Me: "Well, no. It's in the driveway. We have a carport."
Will: "I see...but it's somewhere where we can send a guy out to fix it?"
Me: "Yes." (finally, a simple question and answer!)
The guy who came to wrestle with my tire brought a fancy carjack that made my puny one look like a piece of scrap metal. When he was finished, I threw the bum tire in my trunk and zipped off to the Honda dealership. When I got there I told the guy:
Me: "I've got a tire with a nail in it in the back."
Guy: "Is it the rear passenger?"
Me: "No, the driver's side."
About 20 minutes later, a different guy retrieved me from the waiting room...
Guy 2: "We looked at your back wheels, but couldn't find a nail anywhere. The tire looks fine."
Me: "No, no, the bad tire is in my trunk. I couldn't drive here on it."
Guy: (looks confused, checks his written report) "That's not what the guy up front said. He didn't mention that. He just said it was the tire on the driver's side in the back."
Me: "Oh, no. I did say that to him, but when I said 'back' I meant 'trunk.' I'm sorry for the miscommunication."
Guy 2 was really nice about the whole thing. I'm sure he was thinking: Just another blonde chick, living up to her reputation as a moron.As for me, I was thinking, You are such a toe-headed bonehead! No wonder there are so many not-nice Blonde Jokes!
And that is why cars and blondes (this blonde, anyway) are a problematic combination!
Hi Meryl - just want to let you know that Temple women are not very mechanical at anything, especially cars.
ReplyDeleteJanny in Ohio where we are having temperatures in the 80's right now