The cars I've had have always been 10 plus years by the time they get around to me. I'm used to having car issues. But so far in my life I have been extremely blessed, for many reasons, but one is that I haven't had a car payment - ever. I know - amazing. But the trade off is old cars need lots of little fixes all the time.
My current car, a 2002 rodeo, is almost to 100,000 miles. I've been anticipating things to stop working very soon. So when I was driving to play softball and white smoke started seeping from the hood of my car, I can't say I was all that shocked. After all it was about time something broke. Yet my heart still sunk because, as is always the case with car trouble, I can't afford any major repairs let alone a new car. Sending frantic prayers to get to a gas station before my car exploded or something worse, I quickly turned onto a main highway and found a gas station a few lights down. Once I parked and turned off the car, the smoke billowed out harder. Not good.
So I popped the hood and let the smoke dissipate while I grabbed my phone and started going down my contact list. I know nothing about cars. But I do know that in a situation like this nothing can be attempted until the car cools down - which will take hours. Most likely it will be sitting here all night long. A few people tried to help me out as they saw me in distress, but no one really knew anything to actually help. 45 minutes later, my good friend pulls up to rescue me from the gas station. Again, we are not car experts, but she was right on the money in thinking it was the radiator - most likely a leak if not a crack in the whole thing.
We stand there and debate about what to do now. We plan to call a tow truck, but whether to drop it off at a mechanic (I have not used a mechanic yet) or take it back to my house is the dilemma. While discussing, a car pulls up next to me and as I glance over I see a shirt that says Jiffy Lube. No way. I cracked a smile. This guy was going to stop and help. I just knew it.
Sure enough, this very nice young man helps us out. He checks out the car, we fill it up with coolant, and he tells me I should be able to get home just fine. If I take my car to him the next day for an oil change (which ironically I had planned to do before this whole fiasco happened) he'd give me $15 dollars off. It's obvious he's had a very long day and probably just wanted to get home. Still, he went above and beyond to make sure I got away okay.
I made it home fine and took it back the next day for the oil change. He gave my the discount, and was kind enough to re-check everything. His recommendation was to get it looked as there might be a leak but he just couldn't tell. Awesome guy!
As it was Saturday, I couldn't find a mechanic to look at my car that day, and since I work during the week and don't have any other mode of transportation, I figured I'd just drive the absolute minimum and hopefully it would last until the following weekend. Every time I went to turn on the car I filled it with coolant. Everything was working fine, but Thursday afternoon I was feeling that I might be pushing my luck a bit far. So I called the mechanic of a friend who was self employed and had later evening hours. I headed out to his shop after work on Thursday so he could see if he needed to order a new radiator. If so, I'd come back Saturday and he'd fix it then.
By the time I got to his shop, the radiator was cracked and one of the hoses was busted, leaving coolant spewed all over the inside of the car. It all must have happened on the way there as the car was fine when I left work. Someone was looking out for me. We all agreed it was best NOT to drive the car until the radiator was fixed. With this sudden dilemma I wasn't sure how I would find a ride home during rush hour traffic. The mechanic's wife jumped in her truck and gave me a lift home. People are amazing!!!!!
I was able to find rides to and from work on Friday, picked my car up Friday evening and so far so good. He charged me a fair price and was SO incredibly quick and nice and amazing about this whole precarious predicament that I will no doubt be using him again when the next thing on my car breaks, which or course is only a matter of time.
In today's world of horrible news and evil people doing awful things to innocent victims, it was nice to experience that there really are still good Samaritans out there willing to help out a perfect stranger in need. Maybe it's just Texas, but it was nice to see first hand the good and generous nature that still exists in society. Now I just have to pass it on.
No comments:
Post a Comment