If one drove a nice car and lived in the suburbs, I don't know what it would take to fix a broken headlight. But, this is how it works around here: You pull the offending part off your old car and take it down to Fad's NAPA. As you walk through the door, Fad, from 100 feet away in the back of the store says, "I know I've got one for a GM, but probably not for a Ford." So, you ask Fad's nephew, behind the counter, what he would recommend. "Wal, you could go over to Tank's in Cedar City. Or, we could order one. If they've got anything in Salt Lake, you could have it by Tuesday." Then, from further down the counter, Steve, a guy from the neighborhood, says, "I'd go out to Campbell's and see what I could find." "Yeah, Campbell's, I forgot about them," says the nephew. "Go out here a couple of miles and take a left, and then take your second left."
So, you go out to Campbell's, tell your daughter not to get out of the truck, step around the chained pit bulls, and go find Campbell, who is driving an old logging skidder turned into a home-made car crusher. You wave your part at Campbell who leaves the machine and sets off through the mud, broken glass, and torn upholstery of his junk yard towards an old Mercury Sable. Campbell rips the part off the wrecked car with his bare hands, holds it up to what you've got, and says, "Ya want it?" "How much?" "Ten bucks." You turn your wallet inside out and come up with four ones and a five. "Will you take nine?" "Jeez," he grumbles, "you're as bad as those [racial/religous slur unprintable in Rural Ways]." He snatches the money and stomps back to his skidder. You return to your truck, where your daughter is watching through the window as the pit bulls tear the limbs off a baby seal, and back slowly out of Campbell's. You go home, stick the part on the car, and then head in for some seafood chowder. Problem solved. And all it took was nine bucks and a short trawl through the underworld of the local junk car business. (BTW, the part about the baby seal didn't really happen . . . at least, not yet.)
Too bad you didn't have enough $$ for 2. Well, when you go back, you'll know what you need and then you can give him the buck you owe him.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Keith - if you have to go back, you'd better have enough cash the next time!
ReplyDeleteOk, I said tonight was blog catch up night, but it's also a night I wanted to go to bed early. So, as much as I want to continue, this will have to be it! I notice there aren't any wise cracks from my husband - why can't we take time to stop and smell the roses? Or stop and read the blogs?
(typo in the first comment...saw it as it posted...had to correct it).