Random act of kindness

Monday started off bumpy. Like as in literally bumpy. I had the day off in observance of Veteran's Day so I had a full day of activities planned -- run a few errands, cook, clean, etc. Basically, just be a domestic diva for the day. Fun!

I get out to my car, hop in, back out and... it sounds like there are rocks in the engine. :X Oh crap. This car is supposed to go for another 80K miles at least and now it sounds like something is terribly wrong. I start panicking and call Jim to fill him in. As I'm on the phone, I circle the car and lo and behold, there is the problem. A very, very flat front right tire. Oh. Okay, well that's not so bad. Annoying, but not awful.

I don't change tires, so AAA comes out, puts on the spare and I open up the yellow pages to find a tire shop in our area. I've had to do the whole "let's drive on an LA freeway while only being able to go 45 mph" and it's absolute hell. I needed something that wouldn't require hopping on a freeway.

The first place I see is Globe Motorsports. Based on their ad, they sell Goodyear tires (what I currently have on the car) and they are only a few miles away. Perfect. I make my way to the shop only to find the tiny parking lot overrun with customers. Lovely.

One of the employees, Greg, comes over and asks what the problem is. I fill him in and he asks to see the tire. He looks at it, turning it this way and that. And then says "You know, this tire looks new to me. I think it's just the patch that leaked. Um, let me run some tests on it, but I think we should be able to just fix it. I mean, no need to sell you a new tire if you don't need it."

I'm sorry, did you just say you're trying to save me $$?!? What the...?!?

After coming back to my senses, I walked into the lobby and waited there reading a magazine. About an hour later, Greg waved me over and said they fixed the tire and the car was ready to go. Awesome!! And then we have this exchange:

Me: Fantastic! So, how much do I owe you?
Greg: You know, I don't even have a bill for you. Don't worry about it.
Me: Wait, what?! No, I mean...
Greg: Really. If you want to do something, just give my guy like $5 and it's fine.
Me: [speechless]

We all know how it usually works when a woman walks into any shop dealing with cars. They automatically see dollar signs and try to take you for whatever they can get. I have never had something like this happen anywhere, much less at a car shop!!

I gave the service guy $10 (everything I had in my wallet) and then got in my car in a daze. Once I stopped freaking out over how amazed I was at what had just happened, I promptly drove over to Crumbs, picked up a dozen cupcakes and drove them back out to the guys. They were a little shocked that I dropped off a thank you gift and I think they were probably as happy with the situation as they had originally made me with their generousity, kindness and most excellent customer service.

I am still blown-away at the situation. Needless to say, they have a customer for life with me. It's just so rare to find people like this today and it was so uplifting to know that they still exist.

So, if you ever need tires, you know where to go! Tell them Amber (with the cupcakes) sent you!