Guy Stuff

I love my car, Nigel. He’s a fun-to-drive Mini Cooper. I’ve had him for six months, and it’s been a treat to have a car that doesn’t break down on me. In the last two weeks, however, I have had low air pressure in two of my tires. The first time, my husband filled the tire. Last night I decided I needed to know how to put air in my tires, so went with Rick to find an air pump. At the first gas station, there was a man using the air pump. Or perhaps I should say he was maybe intending to use it, at some point in his life. His big old car was parked in front of the pump, and he was standing there eating an ice cream cone. When he saw us waiting, the man started moving like he was eventually going to use the pump...maybe, after his ice cream was gone. I got mad, and we were on the search for the next air pump. At gas station #2, a man was parked next to the air pump at a wonky angle. I motioned that I wanted to use the pump, and he just looked at me. I got mad again, and was on the hunt for pump #3. This time we hit pay dirt! Oh joy... OK not joy, but my annoyance abated a bit. This is why I don’t understand boys and their toys. It seems to me that many guys totally lose site of their surroundings (and other humans) when they are focused on their cars. I want a car to get me from point A to point B. I don’t want to hang with my car, lick its tires clean. Years ago when we lived in San Francisco, we drove a little yellow Toyota truck. One Sunday morning, we took the truck to a car wash. There was a man hogging the car wash. He had all his floor mats out, hanging them on the fence to dry. He was lovingly washing every inch of his car. He probably used his own toothbrush to get into the nooks and crannies. I believe we asked how long he was going to be. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was snarky. He was a total jerk. We ended up leaving the car wash unsatisfied. Thirty years later I’m still a bit steamed. Maybe ice cream cone guy is related to San Francisco car wash guy. Stranger things have happened.