the imperfect science of cars

The last week has been one of learning the imperfect science of CARS. I have a 1996 Toyota Camry which has this really great feature for an older car: the lights automatically turn off when you turn off the car and open the car door. Since the car is kind of a light tan color, I like to leave my lights on so other cars will notice I am not camouflaged into the background and plow right through me. Last week, however, this great feature of the lights automatically turning off FAILED. And I didn't even know because it was during the daytime! The result? I came out to a car that wouldn't make so much as a whir when I turned the key in the ignition. (I did NOT know at this point that the cause was the automatic light feature.) That night was an adventure in and of itself: my friend's jumper cables weren't "manly" enough to give the battery the juice it needed, so my boyfriend generously bought a pair of VERY manly jumper cables that did the trick. I was thrilled when my car worked the next night. I didn't realize the light-turning-off feature was the culprit until that next night when my lights didn't turn off--and I realized it because it was dark outside.

So began the vow to ALWAYS manually turn off my lights. That vow lasted a total of five days. Sunday I went to church, and when I came out, the battery was dead. Even the very manly jumper cables wouldn't get the battery to even TRY to turn over. But here was the complication: I was parked at BYU, in the Administrator parking lot, and I couldn't move my car. I left a note that explained I would try to take care of the problem on Monday morning.

Well, Monday morning had its own adventure! We (when I say we, I am referring to my very patient and helpful boyfriend and me) took out the old battery, took it to Checker to be checked, and left it there for an hour so the test could be complete. The battery wouldn't take the charge and was promptly declared dead. I called Autozone, where I had bought the battery a year ago, and they told me I could bring it in and get a new one at NO COST because the battery was under warranty. So, we picked up the dead battery at Checker and headed to Autozone. After some imcommunicable grunts and eye contact, we left the store 15 minutes later with a new battery. At no charge. EVEN THOUGH they knew I was the culprit for having left my lights on and killing the old one. (Bless Autozone.) But my boyfriend had a work meeting then and I had class, so we resolved to meet up in an hour and a half to install the new battery in my car. Well, his work meeting went longer than planned, and then I had a string of meetings I needed to take care of that didn't end until 2:30, at which time we convened at my car to perform the installation. I was greeted by a bright green parking ticket on my windshield. (In retrospect, I can see that I looked shady because I had a G-lot sticker in my window, so it looked like I probably couldn't find a spot in the student lot and just parked in the A lot. The benefit I would have, if this really were the case, is that a police officer can't determine if the battery is dead or even in the car because it's INSIDE the hood. Hmmmm.) Anyway, we successfully replaced the battery...but I had a class to run to. So, I left the parking ticket on my window and left my car parked where it was.

But the adventure doesn't end...today I took my car (a week late) to be checked for safety and emissions. The safety part checked out, but the emissions FAILED. Because of my new battery!!! I now have to start it cold, got at least 50 mph for a good half an hour, and then bring the car back in within 15 days. And so I an enjoying the ever-widening repercussions of leaving my lights on.

APPLICATION: I thought of two main things from this on-going adventure: one, we get entrenched in habit and become dependent on certain behaviors; and two, the influence of a moment of stupidity has the potential to be VERY far-reaching. I had been trained to not worry about turning off my lights, and even after I figured out that was the problem, a weak moment led me to fall right back into habit. Do we do that when we think about poverty? Do we become entrenched in the way we think about our approach to helping people so that we can't get away from it without feeling uncomfortable?

The second thought is that we can't plan on life happening ideally. In fact, we all have various moments of stupidity--almost daily. As such, we need to be prepared to deal with them. Maybe I don't need to prepare myself for all of this stuff with a battery, but my mental attitude needs to be such to handle the situation as it comes. I think that general principle of patience is extremely applicable here--and in so many other situations in life. Our complex lives are continually being tweaked to be more efficient and enjoyable, but those darn moments of stupidity can throw off the entire assembly line. And we need to be prepared for that. As I look at ways to approach poverty, I must be prepared for the clockwork implementation to be bogged down and have patience in working out the details.

I will be happy to report on how my appeal to the ticket goes AND on if I pass emissions. Life is just one great and grand adventure!