May 30, 2004

The Flat Tire Episode!

A true story! A few weeks ago I got off work at the drugstore in DeQueen, AR and walked over to Elizabeth (my '88 Chevy Pickumup truck) to begin my 1 hour and 30 minute drive home. Lo and behold! Her front tire was flat as a flitter. It was hot and I was tired and I didn't want to change the tire, so I decided to just call the AAA road assistance folks. I pulled their card our of my wallet and called them on my cell phone. The pleasant young man said not to worry, he would send someone right out. I went inside, got a cold Diet Coke, and began to relax. After a while, my phone rang. The young man said, "I'm sorry, sir, but your card has lapsed and I can't send anyone to help you." As I found out later, the Road Assistance Program was supposed to renew automatically each year on my credit card, but it had been re-issued with a new expiration date and, hence, it wouldn't work! So, no roadside assistance!

I pulled out the jack and lug wrench . As I did so, I noticed a can of Fix-a-Flat that had been in the tool box for years. Aha! the answer to my problem! I screwed it onto the tire, pushed the button and......sticky, gooey, white stuff sprayed out the back of the can all over me......not a bit went into the tire! So I began to fix the flat. Right away, my Walmart lug wrench broke...! I went into the store and bought another one and resumed my effort. Finally, I got it fixed and, tired, dirty, hungary, and out-of-sorts, I began the long drive home. It was getting dark when I went over the mountain road. To my delight, a huge black bear shuffled across the road ahead of me! I stopped and watched him amble on into the forest and realized how fortunate I had been to see him. I continued on and not 300 yards farther down the road, a 2nd black bear crossed the road in front of me! I was on cloud nine. Then as I crossed the Cossatot River, 4 beautiful deer watched me as they drank from the river beside the low-water bridge. My spirit was soaring and my heart was glad. If I had not had the flat tire experience, I would not have seen these wonderful creatures. I was so blessed to have that flat tire!