Matched Sets

Before I bought my Honda Fit, I had a Toyota Corolla. My Corolla was unique in several ways. One is revealed below, in this story from February 12, 2007.

Aunt Jerry called last night. The youngest of three daughters born to Jord and Ruth Chesshir, Aunt Jerry is my mom's sister and is married to Uncle Jack. They are coming to Houston tomorrow as they do every couple of years for an oil industry convention. Even though Uncle Jack is retired from the business, he still keeps up with the annual meetings. While in Houston, they always take me out to eat. I rarely go downtown so it is double treat for me, spending time with family and having dinner at a very nice establishment. Aunt Jerry told me just to leave my car with the valet parking at the hotel where they will be staying and Uncle Jack would take care of it. Uncle Jack and Aunt Jerry may be the most generous couple I know but that last offer set off distress signals in my warning system. I don't think I am a particularly vain person but the hotel of choice for my aunt and uncle is extremely nice. I am OK with the fact that a valet will park my 1999 Toyota Corolla but there is a problem.The dilemma is that only three of the four tires have hub caps. I'm not about to roll in there amongst the Jags, the BMW's, and the Mercedes with the wheel cover missing off my front left tire. Even I have my standards. On the way home from school, I stopped by the neighborhood Auto Zone to correct the situation. It was a good news/bad news scenario. The good news is they are discontinuing $20 wheel covers and selling them for only 98 cents.The bad news is that there were only two of them left and they don't match my other hub caps. I could have spent $25 (plus tax) and purchased a whole new set. That would cost me $23 more than the $2.12 for the two spoke-covered rims. Guess which road I took? It was a no brainer. This is my plan. I'll put the two new ones on the driver's side and leave the other side alone. Since it is physically impossible to see both sides of the car at once, maybe no one will be the wiser. At least, that's the plan!

Do you think anyone will notice? I doubt it but what bothers me is why it bothers me. What should it matter that people I will never see again, who don't know my name, realize I have mismatched hubcaps or even worse, a missing one? Will they think less of me? Will they think of me at all? Of course not but there is part of me that does not want the possibility of humiliation, even from twenty year old strangers. Pride is such a hard addiction to overcome even though we are promised greater rewards for humility. Proverbs 29:23 tells us that, "A man's pride brings him low but a man of lowly spirit gains honor." So, I have more to gain by leaving those hub caps in their boxes than by popping them on BUT I don't want to risk embarrassing Aunt Jerry and Uncle Jack. You know me, always looking out for the best interests of others!


Applicable quotes of the day:
"There are no grades of vanity, there are only grades of ability in concealing it."
Mark Twain


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com