Wednesday, May 02, 2007

The Joy of Rude Interruptions

Anyway, something went wrong with the A/C on our car last fall. When we turned it on, terribly hot air came screaming out. We had it checked out at one of those places that was having a “winterizing” sale. They said that for the low, low price of just $680 we could have it fixed in no time at all.

Well, for $680 we decided to wait till Spring. At that time, we’d pick a $680 bill off our money tree to pay for it. In the meantime, we got a second opinion from our regular mechanic. He’s been real good and helpful to us over the years. He quoted about the same price, but promised us a loaner car, too.

Well, it’s spring and, while our money tree hasn’t blossomed much, I let My First Wife take the car to our mechanic. He called about four hours later.

“Mr. Nichols, for just $1,200 I can la-da-da dealership la-da-da-da order part la-da-da…”

“What?!” I belched. “You said six-hun…”

“Ooorr,” he rudely interrupted, “we’ve got a car like yours that we’re parting out and I can just switch out what you need.”

“How much?” I winced.

“Fifty-one dollars.”

“!!!”

“Aaaannnd,” he rudely continued, “we’ve already done the work, so your car is ready to go.”

Hey, who needs a money tree when you’ve got an honest mechanic?

God bless him.