Flat tires and Secret Santas

Last week as I was tootling down the road, my tire exploded. I didn't know what it was, of course, only that a HUGE noise had occurred and my car wobbled, swerved, and there was now a larger noise happening and some sort of disaster was in the making.

Driving down the road I always used to wonder when I saw pieces of a tire and how they came to be there. I used to worry for the drivers of those tire-pieces ... those ex-tires. Now I know.

I've always been afraid of explosions. It's the Asperger's and the fear and hatred of loud noises and the fear and hatred of sudden noises. Sudden, loud noises are the worst. Phones ringing. (I turn mine off). Jiffy Pop (I use microwave popcorn). Balloons bursting. (I leave any room that has balloons in them, immediately.) Once while I was in high school, I used a tire pump to inflate my bicycle tire, and it exploded. It was many years before I'd ride a bike again. I do Lamaze breathing exercises before a planned school fire drill. Not really. But almost.

So this explosion under my seat was startling to say the least. And I was in a remote and rural part of the county and the only driveway in sight had three faded NO TRESPASSING! signs. The owner of the property turned out to be very nice and so was his wife, and they got my spare on there and I was on my way again. They'd put the signs up because of thieves stealing their tools from the shed and copper wire from the chicken houses.

As I went to the mechanic the next day to inflate the spare a bit, he informed me it was full of dry cracks from being under the chassis for 20 years and it would eventually go flat. The mechanic's idea of 'eventually' and my idea of 'eventually' apparently differed. I thought it would eventually go flat after October 29 when I got paid. However, the tire didn't wait for payday and Wednesday night I tried to go to church it was thump-thump-thump dead flat. Eventually had arrived.

So I did what any self-respecting, adult woman, living alone would do. I stared at the tire a while, I went into my apartment, cried for 10 minutes and then went to bed. It was 7:30 pm.

I thought, hey, maybe it would magically re-inflate overnight. Yes, I do think like that. Sometimes it is very helpful to mentally insist on a fantasy world where the laws of physics do not apply. It makes life less stressful and a lot more interesting. At the very least the intervening 8 hours would give me some lead time on thinking about how to solve the problem.

And that is what I do best, think. And what I do second best is problem-solve. First I thought about having AAA come and re-inflating the tire and driving like mad to the mechanic (who is near my school) and leaving it with him and walk to school. But that is dangerous for me and other drivers, so I dispensed with that idea quickly. Plus, I had morning duty and I didn't want to be late. So I decided the prudent thing would be to leave the car with its woeful flat tire in the driveway, ask for a ride on Facebook which is the public village of the new millennium, and purchase a new tire by phone.

And I'm not living alone. Of course my friends know that I know Jesus is with me. And my friends are with me. Several of them gave me rides to and from school these two days. That is SO nice. And the tire is coming in tonight and after school I'll pick it up and my friend will take me and the new tire home. I'll call someone and he will come and fix my flat. I should be good to go by this evening and all set for the weekend.

Most amazing of all, someone helped me with a surprise Secret Santa envelope they left on my desk at school, so the tire is paid for. I was blown away by that.

I can't say enough about my life here and how wonderful it is. The friendliness and helpfulness and generosity of my friends is absolutely amazing. I hope I am as good a friend to them as they are to me. I know I fail in that sometimes, but I can keep trying. I have many good examples of how to be a friend all around me.