Adventures in Channyland: Flat Tire Edition

So, on my way to spend the weekend with my fam for Mother's Day, I got my first flat tire.

I was riding along and I suddenly heard a sound like a motorcycle and said out loud, "Is that my car?" No sooner did I say that than I smelled rubber burning and saw smoke.  Oh, Lord.  I pulled over to the side of the road.  I knew it before I got out.  I had a flat tire.  When I got out and took a look, my right passenger's side tire was totally in shreds.  Like, the tire had just gotten worn out and shredded completely apart.  Yikes.  Was it because I hadn't gotten my tires rotated in a while?  I sighed, and slumped back in my car.  I hate when car stuff happens to me because I don't know anything about cars.

I became one of those people on the side of the road.  Feeling the wind and hearing the whoosh of the cars passing me by on the interstate was my only company.  Of course, I called roadside assistance, and of course, a corpulent, tatted up tow-truck driver came out and put on my spare for me.

My only recourse, he told me, was to get off on the next exit, go to WalMart, and get a new tire put on.  "Cuz you ain't gonna make it to Montgomery on that spare."  Thank God I wasn't in the backwoods of Podunkville. Wally World to the rescue.  I even knew exactly where the WalMart was because I was right outside of Auburn.  My old stomping grounds.

Another reason I despise car issues is because in order to get the issue remedied, I'm usually forced to be in a situation where, again, I don't know anything, and where I'm also in the company of uncouth men ogling me and making lame attempts to hit on me.  Does it really take three of you hanging around my car to figure out what kind of tire I need?  Is it necessary to suggest that a technician just wants to see my license to make sure I was "legal"?  Out of my element, at the mercy of ribald tire fitters.  Praise the Lord for credit cards.

Back on the road, my trip delayed by a couple of hours, soothed by the sounds of static-y NPR.  Yep, CD player on the fritz again. And the rain.  Instead of added gloom, I chose to view it as a free car wash from God.