Saturday, August 15, 2009

This is not a paid endorsement...


Backstory:

I'm pretty fiercely independent. Fiercely and fantastically so. To the point where it pains me to ask a favor of another person. I just have this belief that it is not up to anyone other than myself to take care of me. (I grew up most of my life with a single mother, and moved many,many times over the years and had it drummed into my head that I could always count on myself, even when I could not count on anyone else. I also spent many years as a single mother after being divorced.) For some reason, I delight in showing myself what I am capable of, whether it is changing the headlight in my car, or cooking a new dish. And it does not have to be something I do on a regular basis, as long as I show myself I can do it once, I'm pretty pleased. Right or wrong, I hope I pass this trait on to my daughters, just maybe not to the same extreme.

All joking aside, my Volvo is the stuff headaches are made of. If something can go wrong with a car, it will go wrong with this car. So when my car would not start Tuesday, I did not call my husband, and I did not call a friend. I called the people I knew would make it all okay.


I called them knowing from experience what their first question would be.

Are you in a safe location?

I called them knowing they would help me, and that their service technicians would give me good advice. They would not treat me as a woman who does not know about cars. They understand that I have a family, and that I would like to get home to them safely. They understand when I let my membership lapse, and they help me renew and get going again. They send me a fun travel magazine. (I like little perks.) They help me get into the car when I am locked out of it. I've watched one of my cars leave on the back of their flatbed trucks, and had it returned to me the very next day, ready to go again.

For all of the services provided to me with my AAA membership, I can not even begin to place a dollar amount on the value of their first question, each and every time I call them.

Are you in a safe location?

Thank you, AAA.

*I can tell you what gift my daughters will get when they have a drivers license. Membership does have it's privileges.

3 comments:

Polly said...

I can relate to your post also being raised by a single mum, I think I drive my DD crazy with my independence but I thank my mum for helping me develop it.
your AAA sounds like our NRMA - definitely worth the money. But that first question, wow thats really fantastic.

Tracey said...

I am a lot like you. I was raised by a single mom and am independent, probably to a fault. While I'm sure my mom was proud of the independent self sufficient woman she raised, I know that I drove her nuts with that too. I remember once in my late teens/early 20s she couldn't believe something that I had did on my own and she was so mad. Then it was like a lightbulb went off in her head, and she said, "oh my god, I did this to you." and she dropped it. haha

Oh, and I am also a big fan of AAA. I've gotten a membership every year since I turned 16. My step-dad made me learn how to change a flat tire before I could get my driver's license, so I've got that covered, but why should I have to dirty myself up if I can just pay someone else to come do it for me? :)

Anonymous said...

ha! that's funny. I'm sorry ya got stuck. silly battery. poo! well at least you made it home safely, even if it were a couple hours later.


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