Wednesday, August 31, 2005
el efecto domino
funny how things happen. our honda civic died on us, so i made an uneducated guess that it might be the starter. i don't know much about cars, but i do know a thing or two about people, namely, those who are able to fix things. so when we moved into our town home, i eyed out the locals. of note was one individual who was rather large and burly, smoked a pack-a-day and swore loudly at his children. so i gave him the big tv we had in the closet. from that point on, i knew he'd have my back. so i says to him yesterday- "where do you get your cars fixed?" he says "what's your problem?" "i think it's my starter." "lets have a look." sure enough, he confirmed my guess and told me to go buy the part, he'd help me install it. the next day we met outside to get the job done. as he leaned in over the engine to loosen the bolts on the starter, we hear a CRACK and a SQUIRT and my neighbor's eye is full of antifreez... yup, he had leaned too heavily on the radiator and cracked the encasement of under-pressure-contents. all of the sudden a simple neighborly exchange becomes a source of anxiety and awkardness for both parties, involving a rather costly repair... what would you do?
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5 comments:
dude,
that is shitty! you're in a bind for sure. did he say anything along the lines of offering to help pay for the damage?
that's a tough call, but i think i would pitch the idea to him of covering half the cost.
he might swear loudly at you like you're one of his kids. :)
bryan
good news. we agreed on a 50-50 for the part and he helped me put it in... we are back on the road again.
Having worked on your car with you, i think i am an expert on this subject. The answer is the purchase of another six-pack of beer. Assuming of course that one had already been purchased.
That is good news Phil. I'm glad things worked out before I responded because I was confused. I thought that the SQUIRT came from his CRACK after he was bent over under your hood and that you got green stuff in your eye and you didn't know how to confront him on it. Maybe I read it too fast. Not only did you beat me on coming to a resolution, but your other commentator beat me to my recommended solution which was a six pack of Tecate. Or Negra Modelo.
The beer is a good idea.
Another example of "self" colliding messily with "other". How will your relationship with your neighbor be modified by this encounter? Who was the Good Samaritan - and what did this experience teach you about love?
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