The Wheels On The Truck Go Round And Round

So, I was trying to get a bunch of stuff done during my day off yesterday and I am so glad I did because it turned out that there was more than I had expected to get done in store for me. I began with a "quick" oil change which turned into a not-so-quick procedure as they convinced me, once again, that I needed to have a transmission fluid flush service. I swear, these companies are fear-driven sales models because if they tell me that I need to do it and that if I don't I'll face the "consequences", I sign right up. Okay, so I shake that off and continue on to getting an inspection sticker. My friend Helen is always nervous I'm going to forget so she'll be happy to know that I got this taken care of. Well, I tried anyways.

Franky came in from the garage at my neighborhood Sunoco and told me that I had failed my inspection. What? I've never failed anything in my life, how could this be? Well, it turns out that my front tires are about as bad as they get. They were worn down and had little traction. He told me I was one snowfall away from sliding right off the road. Um......does this ring any bells anyone? Yeah, I was slipping and sliding right off the road last year and when I asked my car dealer if there was anything wrong with my tires, they told me they were fine!!! What the hell were they trying to do, make sure I slammed into a guardrail? So, I ordered two new tires and then spent some time in the waiting room. Wait, should I really call this a waiting room? It was a chair that had some sort of blanket over it to cover up whatever pitiful state the actual chair was in. The ambiance was an ice cream freezer and a rack filled with foul looking "pastries" and a full wall of soda.

But it probably wouldn't surprise you to hear that I had some major entertainment in the form of the patrons who visited the Sunoco that fine afternoon. First we had a "little person" who I couldn't fully understand as she had a speech impediment which made it difficult for the guy behind the counter to provide the directions she was looking for. On her way out she asked me if I had any toothpaste. Wierd? Yes. Hysterical? Also yes. Then a guy named Omar came in and he seemed like a regular. He proceeded to buy $100 worth of scratch tickets. Every time he would win $10 he would buy another one of the same value. His theory, as he explained it to me, was that if he kept playing the same card he would win and he didn't want to leave the winning ticket behind. I asked him how long he had been playing these scratch tickets and he said "a long time". I said, have you ever won anything? He said he'd never won more than $20 at a time. After a long pause I couldn't help but put my manager hat on and I asked him if he thought he might want to try a different approach? He looked at me like I was nuts and I knew I had crossed the line so I shut up and read my book.

Then this guy came in who also seemed to be a regular, picked up a few scratch tickets and then sat in the back corner on a stool I hadn't seen before. Okay, then he fell asleep. I feel like he mentioned at some point that he didn't have to go to work until 3 and it was just before 2 at this point. People came and went, he slept. I read more of my book, he slept. Omar bought more tickets, he slept. I paid my bill and left and I'm not convinced he's still not there. So, if you care about me, please smack me upside the head if I ever end up being the girl who goes to Sunoco and takes a nap between shifts. I could think of nothing I would want to do less. I proceeded to get a bunch more errands done after my tires were installed and let me tell you something, these tires kick ass and it feels like a new car!!! So, all in all not a bad day and any day I can have some good people watching and a run in with a wackadoo, I'm a happy girl.