Of course I know how to change a tire. I’ve even done it a couple of times.
However, this morning when I got ready to go to work and saw that my rear passenger tire was not just low, but flat I didn’t really have enough time to mess around with it so I just decided I would deal with it later and walked to work.
(Note to self: I really should walk to work more often! Even though most of the ½ mile from my house to work is uphill I made it to work in about 15 minutes and really enjoyed the fall morning.)
As lunchtime approached, I considered my plight: As I said, I know how to change a tire and since I had all the requisite tools (jack, tire iron, spare tire donut), I could have very easily gone home, changed the tire myself, and taken the tire to the mechanic to get it fixed. I am a modern, single, independent woman… hear me roar!
Nevertheless, I also had to admit to myself that since I have had my car I have never examined the lug-nuts on the tires and I honestly didn’t know if I could loosen them. Spiritually I may be a strong modern woman, but physically I am still a weak little girl.
So on my way out the door to lunch I stopped by the office of a friend of mine to see if he would assist me. He graciously consented to help me out, so we headed to my house and began the whole tire-changing ordeal.
Normally this would not have been such a big deal, but unbeknownst to me the lug-nuts on my tires have these goofy little plastic pieces that hold the hubcaps in place. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this until after one of those little plastic pieces broke off.
Anyway, after the hubcap was off and I was watching as my friend jacked up the car, he mentioned that it was a good thing this had happened in my parking lot instead of on the highway when I was all by lonesome myself. I joked that if I had indeed been alone on the highway I would have gotten assistance the old fashioned way: I would have rolled up my pants and showed some leg until someone stopped to help me.
He replied, “But didn’t you do that the moment you stepped into my office and asked me for a ‘manly’ favor?”