Ladies, change your tires.
admin May 22nd, 2007
Recently, I was on my way to an appointment, when I heard and felt an unusual, vibration in my car. I was driving on a fairly slow stretch of two-lane road and so it was not difficult to pull into a vacant parking lot to check out the possible source of this vibration. What I saw was what I had expected but had really hoped I wouldn’t see - a flat tire. Damn. Now a front tire flat is an awful thing, and at high speeds can cause a driver to inadvertently swerve, hit other vehicles, and even cause horrible fatal accidents. A flat back tire is not certainly something I fantasize about late at night under the covers while the smell of incense wafts through the dark bedroom, but it is not nearly so difficult or dangerous to drive on. Seeing that I just had a flat back tire, and being close to home I just pulled back into my driveway, contacted the person I was supposed to meet to reschedule the appointment, and called my mechanic. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Hi, I just had a flat so I need to make an appointment to bring my car in tomorrow morning
Car guy: Oh, that’s never good, are you OK?
Me: Yeah, sure, I’m fine, I was close to home when it happened.
Car guy: Well, do you need us to help you with it?
Me: Well, I’ll need to bring it over and get some new tires or at least get a patch.
Car guy: So you don’t need us to come help you out?
Me: Um, no. Like I said I was close to home so I’ll just change it when I get home from work this afternoon and bring it in to you tomorrow morning.
Car guy: So, you mean you’re going to change the tire yourself?
Me: Uh, yes.
Car guy: Wow, not many of our lady customers change their own tires.
Me: Ha. Well, I do. So I’m good. Thanks!
Car guy: Wow. OK then. See you tomorrow.
What the heck people!? Is it really so rare for a woman to change her tires? When I got to my mechanic, who I happen to really like, he was still very impressed that I, a little defenseless, weak, (and I infer, inferior) woman could and would change HER. OWN. TIRE. He meant everything he said as a compliment, but I was offended as a woman. When I went back to work that day I relayed the story to my (male) coworkers and they completely agreed with the mechanic. “A woman will have her car towed when the radio battery quits working” is one quote from that conversation. I think that that is just sad.
I asked them why they thought this was the case, stating that it had to be either a. Women are never taught how to do these things but for some reason men are or b. Women have for some reason gotten the idea in their heads that they just can’t. One of them made a comment something along the lines of “well, men just tend to be better with spatial reasoning and using their hands so they are more likely to learn how.” Now, that point can be debated, but let’s say this is true. Let’s say that men, just by being men, tend to gravitate more to things mechanical, and so are more inclined to learn something like changing a tire. This doesn’t matter. Whether you enjoy doing it or not, learning to change a tire has several benefits that outweigh any general disinclination to do it. These are
1. Knowing how to change a tire can save time
It usually takes a minimum of 30 minutes for someone to come out and rescue a car with a flat tire. On the way to a meeting, those can be precious minutes. The change itself would likely take no longer than 30 minutes
2. Knowing how to change a tire can save money
Sure, with AAA it is pretty much free, but many people don’t have roadside assistance, and a tow can cost quite a bit of money.
3. Not knowing how to change a tire can be dangerous.
Who knows if they guy who stops to help you out is trustworthy or not? What if you have a flat in the middle of nowhere? What if you don’t have cell service? What if what if what if? You at least want to have the ability to do it if you need to.
So, for those reasons, I think that the “women aren’t inclined to change their own tires because they’re women” theory is bunk. I think that people don’t teach their daughters these things, and the daughters for some reason have been led to believe that they shouldn’t learn. I know several women who have changed their tires for the first time and felt a rush of accomplishment. (One described it as euphoric.) Certainly, it was not something that they couldn’t do, or didn’t like doing. Before that day, they just had never known how. This is something that needs to change. I do not like being complimented because I am a woman who changed her tire. That is one distinction that I can live without.
So, women, strong independent wonderful women, go out, learn, be empowered, please CHANGE YOUR TIRES!
And teach your daughters, too.