Bruzilla
Well-Known Member
No, I'm not talking about welfare, Social Security, or Medicare... I'm ranting about women being allowed to go into auto parts stores!
So, I go to the car wash last night to give the bird a good scrub down before waxing if for the first time, and I stopped at a local chain auto parts store to get the Mother's wax that was recommended on another post. Yes, I could have just gone to Walmart and saved some time, but I try to support the specialty businesses when I can, even if it costs me more.
I should have known I was in trouble when I pulled in and saw a tow truck dropping a car off at a chain auto parts store. Who pays for a tow to an auto parts store? A gas station with a mechanic, yes. An auto repair garage, certainly. But who pays for a tow to an auto parts store when you'll probably have to pay for a second tow to someplace that actually fixes cars? There's only two human beings who have their cars towed to an auto parts store, and that's a woman who is utterly clueless about her car, or a woman who is utterly clueless about her car and has a problem the tow truck driver knows the auto parts store will fix - a dead battery.
I walk into the store, and there they are... not just one, but two, women standing at the counter. I should have just turned around and left right then and saved a lot of time, but I went and got what I needed and headed to the counter just in time to see the two guys working the counter going outside to pull the batteries from the cars of these women, one of them being the car that was just towed in. So, there I stand for 10-15 minutes with five other humans with just one X chromosome and the sense and tools to remove their own batteries thank you very much. We pretty much have the run of the store while the guys who are supposed to be minding the shop are out telling these gals "now, this is what we call a 10 millimeter socket."
The guys, gals, and batteries finally come back in, and now we're all standing around for another 15 minutes while these gals ask a ton of questions about which battery to buy, what the warranties are, why their old battery went dead (after being in one of the cars for five years...), and why the "silver things on the battery were blue and fuzzy" (yes... all of us guys were quietly chuckling when one of the gals asked that question). Then after all else, we had to listen while the guys tried to get an extra $1.39 out of these two for the dielectric goop they sell at the counter, then had to listen to the gals debate the relative value of paying an extra $1.39 to help maintain a battery they had already paid about $60 too much for.
Finally, the cash changes hands, and we males are looking at finally getting out of the store, when, of course, the gals now need the guys to go and install their batteries for them. Why not? They've only eaten up 30 minutes of my day, why not take another 15? I let out a very loud "fu&k this s4it" and headed for the door, leaving all my items sitting on the counter. And I am proud to say every other guy who had been rear ended for the past half hour left with me.
Could someone explain to women that if your car is broken, and you don't want to fix it yourself, you go to a repair place? If it's broken and you want to fix it yourself, you go to an auto parts store? This is a simple concept anyone should be able to grasp. Yes, chain stores offer free installation of batteries and wiper blades, but that's a courtesy most patrons decline to accept because it's considered an insult to most of us in the motoring public who actually know having tools in the car doesn't mean having just a cell phone, an old make-up kit that's not as nice as your new one but too good to throw away, and a nail file.
Frankly, if you lack the tools and knowledge to change your own battery, you have no business being at the auto parts store to begin with. First, you're paying $139 for the exact same battery they sell at Walmart for $79 and you're getting less of a warranty. Second, you're displaying clearly sexually stereotypical ignorance in public, thus validating the same stereotype you feel insulted by. Lastly, you're inconveniencing the crap out of those of us who have taken the time to learn how to maintain our cars and spent the money on a decent tool set. In short, you're not entitled to use an auto parts store as a free garage to overcome your failings as a vehicle owner.
I don't go to the make-up counter at Macy's and tie up the gal working there for 45 minutes by asking her which powder goes with what base, or what eye shadow goes with what lipstick; nor do I ask her to apply my makeup because I have none of the stuff one needs to do it. I don't go to Betty's Beauty Supply Shoppe and dominate the staff with hair care questions for half an hour and then take even more of their time by having them tint my tips because I'm baffled by the complexities of putting dye on the end of my hair. How about extending those of us who just want to get in and out (read that any way you like) a little common courtesy and avoid the auto parts store? Go to Walmart, pay $60 less for the battery, give $20 of that savings to the 12-year old Pop Warner football kid selling candy bars to support his team at the door as he'll likely know how to change your battery, and you come out $40 ahead AND you don't make guys like me miserable. Everybody wins.
Rant over.
So, I go to the car wash last night to give the bird a good scrub down before waxing if for the first time, and I stopped at a local chain auto parts store to get the Mother's wax that was recommended on another post. Yes, I could have just gone to Walmart and saved some time, but I try to support the specialty businesses when I can, even if it costs me more.
I should have known I was in trouble when I pulled in and saw a tow truck dropping a car off at a chain auto parts store. Who pays for a tow to an auto parts store? A gas station with a mechanic, yes. An auto repair garage, certainly. But who pays for a tow to an auto parts store when you'll probably have to pay for a second tow to someplace that actually fixes cars? There's only two human beings who have their cars towed to an auto parts store, and that's a woman who is utterly clueless about her car, or a woman who is utterly clueless about her car and has a problem the tow truck driver knows the auto parts store will fix - a dead battery.
I walk into the store, and there they are... not just one, but two, women standing at the counter. I should have just turned around and left right then and saved a lot of time, but I went and got what I needed and headed to the counter just in time to see the two guys working the counter going outside to pull the batteries from the cars of these women, one of them being the car that was just towed in. So, there I stand for 10-15 minutes with five other humans with just one X chromosome and the sense and tools to remove their own batteries thank you very much. We pretty much have the run of the store while the guys who are supposed to be minding the shop are out telling these gals "now, this is what we call a 10 millimeter socket."
The guys, gals, and batteries finally come back in, and now we're all standing around for another 15 minutes while these gals ask a ton of questions about which battery to buy, what the warranties are, why their old battery went dead (after being in one of the cars for five years...), and why the "silver things on the battery were blue and fuzzy" (yes... all of us guys were quietly chuckling when one of the gals asked that question). Then after all else, we had to listen while the guys tried to get an extra $1.39 out of these two for the dielectric goop they sell at the counter, then had to listen to the gals debate the relative value of paying an extra $1.39 to help maintain a battery they had already paid about $60 too much for.
Finally, the cash changes hands, and we males are looking at finally getting out of the store, when, of course, the gals now need the guys to go and install their batteries for them. Why not? They've only eaten up 30 minutes of my day, why not take another 15? I let out a very loud "fu&k this s4it" and headed for the door, leaving all my items sitting on the counter. And I am proud to say every other guy who had been rear ended for the past half hour left with me.
Could someone explain to women that if your car is broken, and you don't want to fix it yourself, you go to a repair place? If it's broken and you want to fix it yourself, you go to an auto parts store? This is a simple concept anyone should be able to grasp. Yes, chain stores offer free installation of batteries and wiper blades, but that's a courtesy most patrons decline to accept because it's considered an insult to most of us in the motoring public who actually know having tools in the car doesn't mean having just a cell phone, an old make-up kit that's not as nice as your new one but too good to throw away, and a nail file.
Frankly, if you lack the tools and knowledge to change your own battery, you have no business being at the auto parts store to begin with. First, you're paying $139 for the exact same battery they sell at Walmart for $79 and you're getting less of a warranty. Second, you're displaying clearly sexually stereotypical ignorance in public, thus validating the same stereotype you feel insulted by. Lastly, you're inconveniencing the crap out of those of us who have taken the time to learn how to maintain our cars and spent the money on a decent tool set. In short, you're not entitled to use an auto parts store as a free garage to overcome your failings as a vehicle owner.
I don't go to the make-up counter at Macy's and tie up the gal working there for 45 minutes by asking her which powder goes with what base, or what eye shadow goes with what lipstick; nor do I ask her to apply my makeup because I have none of the stuff one needs to do it. I don't go to Betty's Beauty Supply Shoppe and dominate the staff with hair care questions for half an hour and then take even more of their time by having them tint my tips because I'm baffled by the complexities of putting dye on the end of my hair. How about extending those of us who just want to get in and out (read that any way you like) a little common courtesy and avoid the auto parts store? Go to Walmart, pay $60 less for the battery, give $20 of that savings to the 12-year old Pop Warner football kid selling candy bars to support his team at the door as he'll likely know how to change your battery, and you come out $40 ahead AND you don't make guys like me miserable. Everybody wins.
Rant over.
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