Broken-Down

My commute right now is pretty rough. I drive a little over 100 miles each day and have to trudge through downtowns Dallas and Fort Worth. Such is the life of a consultant. I know there are some out there with much, much worse drive times.

On the drive home yesterday my air conditioner stopped working. Then my Check Engine light came on. Then my temperature gauge peaked out at H. Then my engine started rattling every time I stepped on the accelerator.

Now, some irrational part of me wanted to just push on until I got home, but I really didn’t want to be broken down on the side of I-30 during rush hour. So, I decided to pull into a Walmart and call a tow truck.

This particular Walmart had a Tire and Lube garage which seemed like a good place to park, even though I knew they didn’t fix engines. I went in and asked anyway, no luck.

I told the guy at the register what was going on and one of the technicians who just got off a long shift (Lenny) overheard and offered to help. After a few minutes of analysis, Lenny said he was almost positive it was my thermostat and that he could simply remove it and I would be on my way.

Any liquid-cooled car engine has a small device called the thermostat that sits between the engine and the radiator. The thermostat in most cars is about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. Its job is to block the flow of coolant to the radiator until the engine has warmed up. When the engine is cold, no coolant flows through the engine. Once the engine reaches its operating temperature (generally about 200 degrees F, 95 degrees C), the thermostat opens. By letting the engine warm up as quickly as possible, the thermostat reduces engine wear, deposits and emissions. -HowStuffWorks

“What the heck, let’s do it.” Lenny pulled his SUV around next to my car, popped a table out of the back and a bunch of tools he carries with him. He set up the table and got to work.

A few minutes into the job, Lenny’s wife (of 15 years) calls: she’s wondering when he’s going to be home. Lenny calmly explains that he’s helping someone fix their car and he’ll be home later. She didn’t seem too happy about it.

So, here we have a guy who is helping a total stranger out for a couple of hours after he was supposed to be at home with his wife and kids. He’s taking the time to explain how all of the pieces of a water cooled engine work together while working on removing my car’s thermostat.

A couple of hours later, my car is fixed and put back together. Lenny stays with me for a while with the car running to make sure everything is working properly, which it is. I give Lenny $60, which he refuses, but I insist. Then, I’m on my way and home before dark. The best $60 I’ve spent all year.

Thanks Lenny. You fixed my car and taught me a valuable lesson about attitude and how to serve others.