While I was driving to drop off more clothing donations last night the yellow light on my dashboard came on indicating low tire pressure in the rear right tire. 

“No problem,” I thought. 

I pulled into the Goodwill parking lot and connected my tire inflator to the nozzle. I watched the number creep up slowly to 31. Then, the machine cut off. The fuse of my lighter blew, preventing me from getting to 35. So, I drive home with the light still on.

This morning, I got up and picked out a sweater for day 6 of my Christmas sweater countdown. It reads, “works one day a year. Spends the rest judging you.” This is how I feel the mechanics at my local auto shop behave towards me. They judge me as incompetent solely because I am a woman. 

I walked in and ask if the fuse for my lighter is in stock and can be changed. In response I was told that I need an electrical diagnostics check to determine if that’s the problem. My response was, “why you can put in the fuse and If that doesn’t work then run a diagnostic test?” 

After a small sigh, the mechanic agreed to do just that.

Lessons: sometimes the simplest solution is the right one. More importantly, just because I’m am a women doesn’t mean I don’t know my vehicle nor should I be directed to more expensive services simply because of my gender.

#sexism #genderequality #happyholidays #christmassweatercountdown #autorepairs #uglychristmassweater