Apparently I Was Impressive

His name is Bill Best, the owner of Best Auto Repair which is located less than a block away from where I live. I would guess that he is at least 60, but still actively working under the hood and below a raised car. He seems like the kind of elderly who move and talk slower just like what you expect from one, but would somehow finish a marathon. When I came in this morning, he was fiddling with a car engine. "Good morning, would you be able to do an oil change today?" I asked. He kept his eyes on what he was fixing, it was a good 10 seconds of silence before he answered, "Sure, he will be with you in a sec." He pointed to a younger man, all the while never leaving his work.

After giving my car key to the young man, I sat on a chair beside Bill's work desk. He came by and asked what my first and last name was. He typed "v-I-D-I-A" using only his right index finger. He looked up to the monitor, realized the mistake and gave a short chuckle to himself. A very good attribute he has there: laughing at own mistakes.

After correcting that, he looked out the window to see what car I have, "It's a Mitsubishi... hmm... ." "It's a Lancer," I helped him out. "Aaah you know what you are driving, that's very impressive! Let me tell you, most girls don't know what their car is. I see it all the time," he was genuinely surprised. "What year is it?" he asked again. I said that it's a 2003. "Wow!!! Very good!!" he said, a little overreacting for the second time. He then went outside to check how his apprentice was doing and after a while came back in again. This time he did not need the information and asked me anyway to see if I knew, "How much mileage does you car have?" I wasn't really sure, "54?" He excitedly nodded, "Very good, very good." I felt like a car expert by that time, but admitted, "That's about all I know about my car."

Apparently that was impressive enough. Thanks Bill for the service and for assuring I'm not as clueless as I thought I am.