"Do our tyres really come from China now ?", I thought as I drove away from a back street tyre place after being refused a puncture repair whilst I waited !
You see, couple of mornings ago, Friday it was, we had to get somewhere within a time limit and looking out I noticed the car was sitting on the drive with a completely flat front tyre so I jacked the car up and put on the spare before heading to town to get things repaired.
No woman could have undone the nuts or released the spare from its cradle no matter how tough they might be; only brute strength would suffice and yes I was sure it was completely airless and couldn't be driven down to town on as it was hinted I might be able to do !
And yes I DID know that it hadn't been flat when I drove yesterday as I would have noticed the sudden collapse of the front left of the vehicle, the steering wheel being yanked out of my hand and the sound and smell of a tyre getting shredded; a question I answered remarkably calmly I thought !
"Shouldn't you phone ahead first, just in case they can't do it and if they can't, what happens if we set out and get another puncture ?" Perfectly reasonable questions but I'm a man and drove off after saying, "Leave it to me !"
So at the first of the four tyre places in town the man working on his own for one of the major brands said, "Not 'til next week as I'm on my own !" so I set off for the next which was an independent with one man standing ticking off a list of all the tyres he had.
"Can you repair a puncture whilst I wait ?" I asked, certain he'd jump to it.
"No mate, my Chinese order is due in !"
"Oh OK !" I said, jumping back in and quickly reversing my car out of his back lane so I wouldn't block the wagon from China he was expecting !
And as I drove off I was just thinking, "I wonder how long it takes a man to drive a load of tyres from China and how many must he deliver to make it worth his while ?" when I spotted a Chinese man presumably from a Chinese Takeaway on a bike with a food 'Hot Box' on his back cutting across behind me and shooting up the lane I'd just left !
Well I didn't go back and tell the tyre man about my misunderstanding because he would have thought I was a twat and drove on to the third tyre nationally known place instead which had a car park full of waiting vehicles and every ramp with a car on it !
Still nothing ventured, nothing gained and parking in the disabled bay I limped in, grasped the counter and repeated my request in a breathless voice !
The four men gathered around a computer console looked at each other and one of them said, "I can do it for you if you'll sit down over there." and handing me a hot chocolate and a Computer magazine (don't ask me) had the job done in twenty minutes !
And I almost forgot to limp back out to my car !
Here's the three inch nail that had fortunately not gone through a side wall or that would have been a new tyre !
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