The Cleaning Rotation

Do they take better care of your car when it's clean? I take no chances as this entry from June 26, 2013 explains! I took my car into Discount Tire yesterday to have my tires rotated. Several years ago, I signed a service contract with the company and it includes the free rotation every six months or X number of miles which I don't know because I never drive that much. (This is not an advertisement for the company but I have been extremely satisfied with their level of professionalism and courtesy afforded to me.) Arriving early, I was able to get in and out in forty-five minutes with a plan to buy two new tires at Thanksgiving but I'm good to go for my drive to Arkansas one week from today for our bi-annual Chesshir Family Reunion. I'm about to make a confession here. Do you know what I did before taking my Honda Fit in for this tire maintenance? I washed it. I took out everything from the inside that might make it appear messy. I cleaned the windows with a Windex-like spray. I swabbed the dashboard with Armor All wipes. I sprayed the interior with Febreze. When I drove into their parking lot, if it didn't look new, it at least looked and smelled pretty good!

This may seem silly to you. After all, they see my car every six months and I'm under a warranty with them. Why would it matter what it looks like that when they move the tires around and check the pressure? Truthfully, it probably makes no difference. Still, I have this little voice back in my head whispering they might take better care of my car if they think I take good care of my car. You know, deep down I really don't think they do but I can't take that chance! So, I clean it up and roll the dice and once again, I received Grade A treatment. I'm not going to mess with a good thing.

I wanted to run a picture with this entry so you could visualize my nice spotless vehicle so I did a Google Image search for light blue Honda Fits and on the first page, I found a car that looks just like mine with two young ladies who look remarkably like Chelsey and Hanna, my beautiful teacher's aides from three years ago. Wait- it is Chelsey and Hanna and my Honda Fit taken off my blog from three years ago within a week after I bought it- didn't even have the front license plate yet! We made Google Image....and they warned me it might be copyrighted! I'm not going to sue myself so I guess I'm safe. But, in retrospect, that's what I want  my car to look like but it can't anymore. It's three-plus years old and some careless folks around me in a variety of parking lots have left their calling card in small but noticeable to me ways. And still, I put on a good front with the fine folks at Discount Tire; maybe they won't notice so they'll think it's brand new even though they have all the car info and more importantly, they have eyes! I'm not much different when I look in the mirror. Do you think the Lord sees my flaws? Do you  think my co-workers and Christian sisters and brothers see them? Do you? Do you think the wonderful folks at Discount Tire do? Well, I know our Father in Heaven does and He still loves me, in spite of myself! He knows I'm dinged and imperfect and roughed up some by life but He still loves me! My car and its tires won't last forever but my soul most definitely will. And I don't need a contract to assure me that it's in good hands.

Applicable quote of the day:

"We're all human beings, but some of us are more sophisticated at covering our flaws. We're just smart enough to lie to ourselves that everything is OK."
Mehmet Oz

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

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E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com