Flat Tire = $3,000

I was in my hometown the past couple of days, at my dad’s house (which explains why no post for yesterday), and I got the brakes fixed on our minivan. The mechanic is an old friend of my dad’s, so I trust him, and that’s why I take my cars to him when they need repairs. While at the shop, the old mechanic told us a story that happened recently to one of his regular customers.

The guy noticed he had a flat tire, but instead of fixing it himself, he thought of the mechanic. But he didn’t want to call the mechanic to drive all the way out to him (probably 15 miles), so he decided to just drive into town, to the mechanic’s shop, on the flat tire.

The mechanic didn’t say, but I suspect there was alcohol involved in the decision-making process for this guy.

As he drove down the road, several people tried to alert him about his flat tire, but he ignored them. Finally, a woman pulled in front of him and stopped, forcing him to stop. His truck was on fire. A passerby used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, and the mechanic was called for his tow truck.

When the mechanic got there, the local volunteer fire fighters were on the scene, sitting on their truck laughing. When the mechanic got the guy’s truck to the shop, he found that half the wheel was gone — ground off during the drive. The front bumper was partially ground away, the brakes were all torn up and burned, the ball joint was destroyed, and the heater was torn to pieces. The mechanic mentioned another thing or two torn up on the truck, but I don’t remember them all.

Like I said, I suspect alcohol, in some form, was involved in all of this.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com