New treads

The fact that it's still very much a man's world was made astonishingly apparent to me when I blew out a tire on my morning commute on I-88 yesterday. I went out to get in my trusty 2001 Ford Escape and noticed that the left front tire was low, so I searched out a station that had a working air hose (I had to stop 2 places). Putting air in the tire, I noticed that the valve stem was a little cockeyed. Okay. Decision. Do I take it over to Farm & Fleet now and be late to work today? or do I chance getting there today and make arrangements to be late whereby having the tire checked out tomorrow?

So I gambled... and lost when my tire failed at the 107 mile marker. First phone call: My boss, a man (albeit a very nice, mild mannered guy). Second phone call: My spouse, a man (albeit also a very nice, mild mannered guy). Third call: My insurance agent, (also a guy), to get a recommendation for emergency road assistance flat tire fixing. I don't really know what kind of guy my insurance agent is, just that he has the same first name as my brother, Scott, and Scott wasn't in the office yet. Now, before I could even decide who to call next, and not even 5 minutes had passed, an Illinois state trooper was approaching in my rearview mirror. SAVED! By yes, a man. He was very personable and told me I should stay in the car with my seatbelt on while the HELP Truck was on it's way.

I did so, and the HELP Truck arrived in about half an hour. HELP Truck Driver: A man, of course. Though I did spend some time analyzing whether I thought a woman could do the job... hauling the heavy jack off the truck and carrying it to the vehicle in need, getting the lug nuts started, warding off come-ons and sexist jokes from stranded motorists. Anyway, HELP Truck Guy (actually I found out from the paperwork that his name is Doug) cracks a joke first thing after looking at my tire and says it's only flat on one side. I thought it was a nice ice-breaker and he got there soon enough that I wasn't actually late for work yet. Doug was very pleasant and efficient, put on my spare, told me how to drive on it, and I was on my way in just a few minutes.

When I got back to town after work I went straight to Farm & Fleet where a nice young man (who was pleasant enough even though very busy) sold me new tires. And then another (you guessed it) man put the new tires on my truck. In the meantime, I called my woman-friend and her spouse (one of the most mild mannered and pleasantly geeky guys I know) picked me up and drove me home so I could feed the dogs and myself while waiting for my new tires to be installed. What would I have done without my little support club of men to help me yesterday? Me, the once-caustic feminist? Thanks guys.