Lack of Integrity

We live in a society where people are incapable of admitting when they are wrong. Even when a person has commited an obvious or greivous error, the automatic response is to deny wrongdoing, responsibility or any fault whatsoever, and blame somebody else.

Today at work, someone parked their truck in a loading dock of one of the empty stores in the mall. Regardless of the fact that there is no store currently using said loading dock, it is still illegal to park there. That space was never intended for parking of regular vehicles. It is surrounded by high walls which create huge blind spots. At the speed which people fly through this parking lot, an accident is very likely to occur as a car exits this area.

So of course, when my boss saw the truck, she asked me to call the local towing company we are contracted with and have them hitch it up. Within five minutes of my call, the truck was on site and the car was pulled out within seconds.

About a half hour or more later, I get a call on the radio from Target, saying a customer is angry because his vehicle is missing. I head down to meet the fellow, and before I can even introduce myself, he begins screaming to me about this grave injustice we have committed against him. His words, not mine. (Melodramatic much?)

Anyway, I take him up to my boss, and head back down to my truck, where I can still hear the man screaming because he is that loud. He keeps arguing that he is an ex-cop, and we had no legal grounds to tow him from the property. Furthermore, he felt that we should only tow old, dirty ugly vehicles, not brand new expensive ones like his. According to him, he parked there because he did not want anyone to ding the precious paint on his vehicle, and our parking lot is unsafe.

Here is what I think: As a cop, he should damn well know better by now than to park illegally. And only tow old clunkers? Just because he is wealthy, apparently he deserves special treatment? Hell no! I don't care if the car is a Jaguar XK8 or a bloody Chevy Nova. Illegal is illegal, regardless of who you are. Besides, he is probably just comfortably middle class, and that doesn't grant one celebrity status, idiot. And finally, I do parking counts of the mall lots twice a day. No one at all parks on the upper three levels of the Target parking structure. No one could ding his damn door. So basically, he is just a lazy old man with compensation issues.

The way I see it is this: If you fuck up, admit it, take responsibility, and let it go. Learn a goddamn lesson and don't do it again. I just hope that I have enough integrity to stand up and take it like a man when I mess up. It's far more admirable to accept guilt with dignity than to argue when you know you are wrong.

Mechanical Marissa

It seems that every week with my boyfriend, I learn cool new things. This week it was auto mechanics.

Recently, Erik's car has been making funny noises when he has been driving it. One of the front wheels was making the most awful grinding noise. When he took a look at it, it turned out that the front brake pads were worn right through, and beginning to scrape the rotor on the driver's side wheel.

Rather than get ripped off by taking the car in for service, E decided to replace the pads himself. This is the first time he has ever attempted it. After getting ripped off by Kragen (they were charging 40 bucks for brake pads, and only offered a 2 year warranty that did not include wear) he called around and found that auto zone sold the pads for half the price with a lifetime warranty that did include wear.

So we drove to the deserted office building across from his apartment and set to work changing his brake pads. I helped! Granted, I was hardly needed, but I did contribute, and didn't get in the way. Plus, I provided entertainment. I did my best mechanic impression by scratching my crotch and grunting while E was on the phone with his dad getting advice.

Next week, we are going to change my brake pads, which desperately need it as well. Today's little tutorial made me rethink the whole notion of taking my car in for service. It wasn't very difficult, and it was only a fourth of the cost of taking it to the shop. Makes me think I should become a little more interested in the workings of my car.

School of Hard Knocks

I think I'm crazy. My boyfriend is a really good skateboarder, and I have continually dropped hints of how I want him to teach me. Being the angel that he is, he went out and bought me my own board and fixed it up with trucks and bearings and wheels, everything I needed.

Last night, he had me try it out a little. And I think I'm in a little over my head. I couldn't even go in a straight line without him there holding me up on the board. I'm kinda nervous now. I realize I will be falling a lot as I am learning. I told him I won't go near the board again without a helmet and protective padding. I'm otherwising anticipating a large number of contusions and concussions.

I'm still gonna have him teach me. But I have a feeling I'm gonna be hitting the ground pretty hard for a while until I get the hang of it.