Perspective…it is an important concept that most people fail at mastering. As I drove along the highway yesterday, staring at the sundogs (does this count as distracted driving?), I heard something zip through my front wheel well and ting off what I thought was the bottom of my car. I really did not think much about it…until 30 kilometers later. I was just entering a small town when I noticed that a loud noise was coming from my car. I wondered if a rock had ruptured my exhaust system. I rolled down the window to listen and a gust of freezing air blew through the vehicle but it did not seem like muffler noise. I had almost driven through the one-blink town and so decided I had better pull over and have a look. I did not think I had a flat. Wrong! My back tire was incredibly flat and that noise was the sound of my rim hitting the ground I presume. Sigh. This was yesterday when the winter weather finally hit Manitoba. Not yet Friday the 13th.
I flipped around and went to the Esso station where a woman greeted me warmly. When I asked if there was a garage in town she offered to call for me. Within minutes a man arrived and offered to have a look. We had a brief conversation about how he thought the rim was fine and that the tires looked new enough (bought this winter) that I should still be under warranty (he later turned out to be right when I called the shop). He pulled off the tire, took it back to his shop, and came back with the verdict that the tire was unfixable. He had marked the puncture so that I would not have to wait for the tire shop to find it despite the hole being large enough to see.
While he did this, I hung out in the Esso with the lovely woman, chatting prior to the coffee clutch arriving—a group of entertaining men who made me laugh. The other guy came back, put on my donut and explained that I should be able to get to where I was going and back fine. He also refused to take one cent for his generosity and kindness because he could not fix it.
As I got into the car, I realized that I was incredibly lucky. If the wheel had lost all of the air 20 minutes earlier or later I would have been stuck on the frigid highway, looking at the sundogs, calling CAA, and wondering why I had not filled up with gas before I left the city. Usually, a busy highway in the morning, it had been fairly deserted. I was grateful for timing.
Anyway, perspective gets you through or escalates many a mini-crisis. I found myself chuckling a little at the men who felt the need to entertain me as I waited with their small-town tales, as they called them. Next time I come through, I will drop off cookies for their coffee break and something even better for the kind mechanic.
Peace,
Suzanne
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