The Mechanic

Today, as I was buying two new tires for my car, a guy walked in to the shop looking for work.

They told him they were hiring...but he would had to shave his huge beard. I asked him how long he'd been growing it.

"Since I was 16," he said. "It's kind of sad having to shave it off, but with the way the economy is right now, I don't have a problem with it. You gotta do what you gotta do."

Then I heard them tell a older woman she would have to wait forty-five minutes for a tire rotation.

"Forty-five minutes!" I said. "What are you gonna do for forty-five minutes?"

We ended up chatting away. She's very excited because her daughter and son-in-law are going to Las Vegas for their anniversary this weekend, and she gets to watch her almost-two-year old granddaughter. She told me about her three kids, and I was so happy to hear how proud she is of them, and how much she loves their spouses.

Then I took my car over to get an oil change, and decided to talk it up with the mechanic. I asked him to teach me how to change the oil...and he did! We laughed over the fact that he is teaching me how to do something that I would pay him to do otherwise. He told me about his family, and we discussed faith, and how important the family is. I left him not only wanting to take better care of my truck, but also to take better care of my wife.

Look around you...there is always a vehicle for a good conversation. For me today, that vehicle was my car.