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Wash my Car
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| RottieWoman |
Posted on February 09 2012 02:37 PM
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Member
Location: No value
Posts: 3044
Joined: 2008-12-31
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here's a recent experience of mine...
the car wash. I learned to drive very late and, and learned to put in gas in my car myself, later. I have issues with sequence and spatial orientation, among other things. Every time I go to a gas station I have to figure out the sequence of the mechanics <since I drive extensively and in a wide variety of areas, sticking to one spot to get gas isn't practical>. Any kind of written directions are like traditional math story problems which is one of my biggest issues. I have to remember what the "gas-getting" sequence looked like the last time I happened to be at that particular station, or what it is -likely- to look like. Once I get a picture in my mind, I have a much better chance of success.
So, on to the car wash....I chose a place where they actually have a little booth with an attendant. I had never spoken with anyone there but I remembered going there once with hubby and how the car wash people seemed pretty friendly. So I parked my car and watched people driving into the wash for a few minutes and then I got out and walked over to the attendant and told him that I learned to drive late, have a learning disability and haven't ever taken the car through the car wash by myself, and that I was worried about getting it right. He was very patient and explained what I should do a few times and also that there were actually people inside the wash bay directing.
There's a track you have to get one of the front wheels aligned with and then the car just moves from there. That was challenging, but it all worked out.
Actually to be honest the fact that I look like I'm in my 20's and do have a speech difference tends to give me more "leeway" a lot of times in terms of people <service/business people you meet sporadically> being more patient with me. |
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| justfoundout |
Posted on February 09 2012 08:38 PM
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Member
Location: Texas USA
Posts: 6103
Joined: 2008-05-25
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2/9/12
Loved your story. Something similar happened to me about 12 years ago. I'd never used a credit card to purchase gasoline from a gas pump. I'd always walked in and paid the clerk. Then late one lonely, dark night, I found myself on a service road at the intersection of two of the largest freeways in the DFW, and very low on gasoline in my car's tank. I don't remember now why I was out alone so late. I probably hadn't planned for this to happen. <sighs> Anyway, there were no people and almost no other cars anywhere. There was barely any illumination, despite this being the hub of the metroplex. The gas station was 'closed' as far as having any attendant, but the 'credit-card-pay-at-the-pump" option was still offered. I pulled up to the pump and pulled out my credit card. The little screen said to swipe my card. I swiped it. After that,... don't ask me why,... I would get little messages,.... things like 'Make selection',... but I couldn't figure out what the screen meant. And then the time would run out, and it would tell me to swipe my card again. "Lift pump" flashed up on the screen. Somehow, I progressed to the point where it said, "Begin pumping.", yet, can you believe? I couldn't figure out what it wanted me to do. I must have swiped my card three or four times, without getting a drop of gasoline. I was scared and desperate. But all I could do was drive further down the highway on the little gas I had remaining, until I could find a gas station that was 'open' and had a cashier to take my money.
Soon, I bought gasoline during the daytime, when there were people to ask questions of, and I became an 'old pro' at getting gasoline by using a credit card. Later, I've realized what my problems were that night. Some gas pumps want you to push a button that tells it what grade of gasoline you want. There's only one hose and nozzle, and the grade you selected is what comes out of the pump for you. Other pumps have separate hoses and nozzles for each grade of gasoline, but you must push the button above the correct nozzle before you pick it up and put the gasoline in the car. And yet other pumps don't have a button to push. They just have a sign above each hose and nozzle. When you pick up that particular nozzle, you have to also lift the lever that the nozzle was sitting on to activate that grade of gasoline to come out of the pump before you'll get anything to come out of the nozzle. I think that the gas pumps at that station that night were of some 'sequence and procedure' that I hadn't previously encountered, and with no one to explain it to me, I couldn't figure out how to get gasoline to come out. This was long before I knew about dyscalculia and its 'sequence and procedure' connundrum. - jus'
Edited by justfoundout on February 09 2012 08:40 PM |
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| CheshireKat |
Posted on February 23 2012 01:32 PM
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Member
Location: United States
Posts: 1860
Joined: 2008-11-14
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Rottie, I was almost expecting this to be a sad story about your car getting stuck in the car wash or some attendant being rude to you, so I was pleasantly surprised to read that you actually had a very nice, patient person explain the whole experience to you and help you through it! It made me smile.  There really are so many good people in this world who will stop and help us out if we just explain the situation to them.
On a side note, I am personally terrified to take my car through the car wash, just because I am very claustrophobic so being stuck inside of a car wash where I feel like I can't get out gives me the heebie jeebies! I like washing my car by hand anyway, especially in the summer here because it's so sunny and hot, I can put on my bathing suit and get some sun while I wash my car.
"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." - Eric Hoffer |
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| justfoundout |
Posted on February 23 2012 05:25 PM
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Member
Location: Texas USA
Posts: 6103
Joined: 2008-05-25
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2/23/12
I was never claustrophobic when going though a car wash before. There was so much going on. But now that you mention it,... that's true. You are stuck inside the car and can't get out while the washer is going. So, thanks a lot! <LOL, sarcasm> Now I'll be claustrophobic about it, too. - jus' |
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| RottieWoman |
Posted on March 06 2012 03:59 AM
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Member
Location: No value
Posts: 3044
Joined: 2008-12-31
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Hi 'jus and Kat! thanks for reading and replying here and I'm sorry I'm late back here!
Every time I've been through a car wash with someone or now by myself, I've considered how someone with claustrophobia or anxiety/panic attacks deals with <or not> the car wash. I can see how difficult that would be!
One time as a training exercise in handler focus and novel stimulation, we took our very first Rottie in the car through a car wash. She actually did very well - I treated her at the outset and as we continued on through and she was wary when the brushes swept over the back windshield of the car but still did well. |
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| justfoundout |
Posted on March 06 2012 08:32 PM
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Member
Location: Texas USA
Posts: 6103
Joined: 2008-05-25
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3/6/12
There was recently on the news (or maybe it was Youtube) a video of a man at a car wash who decided (for some inexplicable reason) to open his car door and get out while waiting for the car wash brushes to move. Sadly, just as he opened his car door, the brushes came up from behind, tearing his car door off the hinges. The man wasn't injured, but could have been, of course. - jus' |
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| CheshireKat |
Posted on March 16 2012 08:14 PM
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Member
Location: United States
Posts: 1860
Joined: 2008-11-14
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Rottie, I think my dog would have a heart attack if I took her through a car wash! What's funny is that as a kid I loved going to the car wash, it was one of my favorite things to do. I always thought of it as a weekend treat if my mom took us through the car wash on a Friday evening after she got off work. Now I can't stand the thought of driving through one, I'd much rather go through the effort of washing it by hand. Funny how things change!
"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." - Eric Hoffer |
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| Kathy |
Posted on March 17 2012 12:58 AM
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Member
Location: Bribie Island Queensland Australia
Posts: 407
Joined: 2005-04-03
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Hey guys loved the stories!
It's just something else we have in common!!, I'm scared of Petrol stations (Hubby does it for me - I know so much for women's lib!!) LOL! car wash as well (do it myself) Yet who taught her daughter to fill up her car when teaching her to drive without hesitation!! Me!! I don't like driving late at night either and especially in the rain and storms. Yet who drove hubby to emergency late at night last week and in a new car I had never driven at night in before (not sure of wipers and gadgets- I like to practise a lot first!!) and in the rain and yes who got breathalised by a Policeman on the way (second time in her entire life) - thank goodness he didn't ask me to count backwards while I blew into the thingy!! (that always confuses me - because I'm nervouse I forget where I am up too and tend to want to start over - of course that means you have to keep trying - talk about hyperventilating!! still nice young policeman could see hubby was in distress (he had something in his eye) and let me hop away in my car  Three hours wait in emergency and then driving hubby home (I worked out that because I am so short sighted and have no night vision- hubby had only one good working eye - we had one eye to share between two!! talk about the blind leading the blind!! still all good, hubby's eye is recovering and I am back to normal driving! my new little car is called "Rosey" and we are getting to know each other really well, now if her owner could just get brave enough to actually park in a car park (instead of parking miles away!!) I know I will do it one day - but who invented speed humps!!
Cheers
Albert Einstein said: "Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count!." |
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