"Thanks, uhm...", I looked at him expectedly, "I haven't paid yet"
"Right, we don't charge for fixing flats", he replied, still smiling.
I figured he was joking, so, "haha", followed by *pause*
"Need anything else today?", he queried.
Omigosh, he was serious. I didn't owe anything. Thank you, Discount Tire. I'll be back.
I'd walked out to the parking lot to see my rear passenger side tire was flat - the silver head of a large screw nestled within the treads. I called AAA because I can, and then set to work. The friendly road-side assistor appeared relatively quickly. By then, I had my car jacked up, lug nuts removed, and doughnut at the ready. But the tire was not budging. I asked if I was missing something.
"Oh, yeah, it's just rusted on there", he replied as he retrieved a primitive mallet from his toolbox.
He proceeded to perform a highly technical process of removing the flat tire - giving it a few good whacks with the mallet. Soon I was on my way and stopped at Discount Tire where they (surprisingly) fixed and installed my flat tire for free even though I didn't buy the tire there.
This incident marked my third flat tire in two months. Firstly, I discovered the front tire of my mountain bike was flat shortly after we moved. That's a mystery to me since I hadn't ridden it in a few months, and it was fine when we packed up. It went flat on the moving truck?
Oh well, fixed it and all's good.
Then last week, I had a flat on my commuter bike - first flat in the two and a half years and who knows how many miles. Oh well, fixed it and all's good. I'm hoping that's the end of the flat tires for a while. Does Fort Collins just have an unnatural amount of sharp road crap?
In other news, I started a part-time job last week working in the culinary department of a small hospital. I'm enjoying it, it's fun, and my coworkers are a talented and friendly bunch. There is potential to progress to bigger things, so we'll see.
For now, I appreciate the opportunity and the ability to cut back on the tutoring, which I've been doing since 2008. The burnout is real.
5 comments:
Hooray for Discount Tire! My guess is you’ll visit them the next time you need to purchase tires... I think they’ve got things figured out. :)
And hooray for you! Jacking up the car? I don’t think I’d trust myself with that. I’m impressed!
We use Discount Tires too - they are wonderful. Congrats on your new job - I hope you love it.
SR300, Discount Tire is my new go-to for everything tires!
You've never had to change a flat? It's not difficult - go practice in your driveway!
Sandie, son Chaco recommended Discount Tire. I didn't expect to need a tire place, but I'm glad I followed that lead!
Discount Tire has generated a lot of interest just by being nice and going the extra mile to help someone out. Good luck on the new job.
Abby - I did not know this about Discount Tire. Great to know! I haven't tried to remove a flat tire since 1984. I wonder if it is like riding a bike? I remember we had to learn this to pass drivers ed in school. In those days we couldn't wear pants to school so there I was in a skirt in 1972 learning how to change a tire in knee socks and a skirt. I guess if you can do it "ladylike" then you can do anything!! As they say, Ginger Rodgers did everything Fred Astaire did only backwards and in HEELS!
Post a Comment