No, see – we *are* the help….

I have to admit that sometimes I like to have fun with the reactions I get from people when they find out I am a mechanic… Is that a bad thing? ;)

Recently one of my customers called me to see if I could come to his rescue… his car stalled and wouldn’t start up again – it was parked at the parking lot at his work – not far from my shop and would I possibly be able to go check it out and see if I could get it fixed without having to get it towed? No problem. From the sounds of the symptoms I was pretty sure I knew what it was and if I was right it was something I could easily fix in the parking lot. He wasn’t going to be there, but the key was there and I could have at it.

I brought Christina (the other female technician that works for me) because we’d had a rough week and I had a hunch that this was gonna be fun… I thought I’d share ;)

We loaded some basic tools and testing equipment and headed on down… to the local fire house.

The guys were hanging out back when we pulled up… all eyes were on us as we got out of the car and walked over to my customers car and got the key. I went over and let them know who we were and what we were doing messing with one of their co-workers cars. They just nodded and stared with furrowed questioning brows. Christina and I got to work. Within minutes three or four more firemen appeared from within the house and made their way over to us… “Excuse us ladies – is your car stuck? You need some help?” We are both in uniform and have a spread of tools in front of us, so I thought it should be pretty obvious, but I turned and smiled – “No, thanks – we’re good. We ARE the help.” And then we watched them back pedal ;)

We went and got the part we needed, leaving them speechless, and then got on with installing it… as I worked we gathered a small crowd around us… they were really nice guys and while they weren’t at all rude or condescending – they were definitely intrigued and curious. The questions while I worked all seemed very skeptical, arms crossed - asking what I was doing… how I knew that was the problem… how long I’ve been a mechanic… how I learned to be a mechanic… where I worked…. And on and on…

When the time came for Christina to turn the key and test if we had fixed the car or not – a hush fell over the crowd. Because of the nature of the repair… it’s normal for it to take a few tries – so of course it looks like I don’t really know what I’m talking about after all. I see some smirks out of the corner of my eye just in time for the engine to right on cue start up and start purring like a kitten.

Immediately the crossed arms drop and the first voice I hear says slowly... “what did you say the name of your shop was again?” I pulled my cards out and passed them around smiling… they invited us in and gave us some freshly brewed ice tea and we all shook hands and smiled and waved as we drove off… Christina and I giggling like school girls to ourselves all the way back to the shop…

There are definitely times I wish that who I am and what I do was more “normal” and accepted… But then it's little moments like this that make all the struggle worthwhile ;)

Happy wrenching...

Love,
The Wrench Wench