Three Stories
#1: The Curious Case Of The Clever RepairmanOne of the seat belt latches in the back seat of Gloria's car stopped working a while back. She took it into a dealer for service today.
I know the manager in charge of service at this dealership, because they used to do service on my old Toyota. His name is Scott.
"So Scott called me about my car," Gloria said.
"Did they fix the seat belt latch?" I asked.
"Not yet," she said. "But they did find a nail in my tire, I need a new battery, and it's time for 50,000 mile service."
"How much will all that cost?" I asked.
"$405.17," she said.
Thirty minutes later, she walked in to my study. "Rubber band," she said.
"What?"
"In the seat belt latch. That's why it wasn't working."
"So a rubber band is is going to wind up costing us $400," I said.
"Pretty much," she said.
"Well-played, Scott," I said. "Well-played."
#2 I Can't Do This Story Justice In Words
Last night, I was in the parking lot of Walgreen's when I saw two men walking toward me. The man in front was in his forties, slightly hunched over, and walked with a limp.
The other man (his father, I'm guessing) walk a few steps behind him. He was very old and much smaller than his son.
Suddenly, the old man spoke. "WALK STRAIGHT!" he shouted with a heavy accent (I think he was Vietnamese).
"I CAN'T walk straight," said the younger man with annoyance. "I'm injured. That's why I needed the medicine."
They walked in silence for a few seconds.
"WALK STRAIGHT!" said the old man.
#3 Huge
Eli 8.0 and I were going home from our traditional Tuesday night dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.
At Eli's age, kids will often pull out topics of conversation from thin air. Or, at least, he does.
"Do you remember when I had blood drawn when we went to the Doctor for my stomach?" he asked. That was in February.
"Yes," I said. I told him I would give him a dollar is he was brave, and he was.
"The nurse took out the needle and I remember thinking 'Okay, Eli, you've been offered a dollar, so don't do anything wacky.' "
"Well, you were very brave," I said.
"It's easier to get blood drawn when your arms have more muscle," he said. "It would be much easier for me now."
"Yes, it would be," I said. "You're ripped."
He was silent for a few seconds, and when I snuck a peak in the rearview mirror, I saw him flexing.
"WHOA!" he said. "These are HUGE!"
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