Just got home after 3 hours from what should have been a quick trip to the grocery store and Home Depot. I decided to check Lowe’s to see if they had better deals on light fixtures since I have handymen here tomorrow to install them. As I left the store, I couldn’t help but notice it had started pouring rain and I had no umbrella. I ran to the car, quickly loaded and jumped inside. It wouldn’t start! It wasn’t even turning over. I had noticed it needing some gas to get started lately and had decided to take it into the dealership on Monday, but I totally didn’t expect that.
I called my Dad to come get me and then called a Nikki and Scott about my dilemma. Between the two of them (I could hear her dictating in the background), they decided it might just be a dead battery and advised me to ask an employee if any of them had jumper cables. As Scott put it, they’ll send out the store bohunk and he’ll take care of it.
Instead, I got Melanie from customer service. When I walked back in the store, I first asked the returns guy who had been leering at my boobs when I walked in, about jumper cables. He turned and asked Melanie who immediately volunteered that she had some and would get them as soon as she was done with her current transaction. I feared that meant she would give me the cables and expect me to find someone to jump me. And wondered if the friendly-looking middle-aged contractor she was helping might volunteer. As soon as she was done with him, she offered to go pull her truck around. I stood in a parking spot in the rain to keep it open for her. In the meantime, the contractor was parked right next to me. He quickly loaded up his car, making a special effort not to look anywhere in my vicinity so he wouldn’t have to help.
Once we figured out where the two batteries were located, she had to hurry and cut off another car headed for the perfect, just vacated, spot. The other woman angrily honked repeatedly, but hey, you got to do what you got to do. Melanie climbed right up into the very high truck bed, pulled the cables out of the giant toolbox, jumped down and went to work. By this time, my Dad had arrived, but he hadn’t been able to locate his jumper cables, so he could only provide a ride if I needed one.
The car failed to turn over repeatedly, but was starting to act like it wanted to. Unsure of whether it was the battery or starter, we decided to give it some time while she ran back in to make sure she wasn’t needed on the job. Again, no start. I was about to give up when she decided she should give the truck some gas to rev it up while I tried one more time. The car started right up and I made it home fine.
Incidentally for those of you who are making negative assumptions about capable women (Rob!), Melanie was quite feminine and is married to a fellow Lowe's employee. As she told me, she lives in Belton, but had to leave her original store when her husband was promoted to management.
Even better, Nikki’s brother is one of my handymen and she spoke to his partner who promised to take care of my battery issue tomorrow. Apparently, he is one of those guys who knows a lot about cars.
Oh, just as Melanie was getting to pull her truck around, a couple pulled up two spaces over and them man asked if I was alright. “Yes, thank you,” I said. “I am being rescued.” No, I don’t know the first thing about cars, but at that I felt a sense of pride that I was being rescued by another woman. Yes, we’ve come a long way, baby. Thanks sister!
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