Neighborhood Field Trips: Automotive shops

On Wednesday this week, we had an unexpected tire blowout. That’s not entirely truthful; this blowout was destined to occur from our multi-patch wielding tire. That tire really gave us some mileage, I must say! Anyhow, we found ourselves at the tire shop first thing that morning after a long, harrowing Tuesday filled with skunk spraying, a canceled Valentine craft party due to said skunking, and very, very pinched nostrils.

We make it a point to take Wood Sprite with us everywhere we go so she can experience the community, too. Trips like these are incredibly interesting when, instead of being told to sit still and be quiet like children often are, you open up to experiencing the trip with a beginner’s mind along with your child.

Wood Sprite and I explored all of the tire displays. We asked to go into the shop and see what they were doing and what a day was like when you work at a tire shop. She asked for change for a dollar so she could get some M&Ms from the vending machine, and we talked about why they’d offer free coffee but not free treats, where the donations went for said treats, and the types of magazines they offered. A news program was also on, which baffled Sprite since we read the news at home but do not watch it. She thought it was “very, very weird,” which made me laugh. I guess the antics they do to draw in viewers really are weird!

Usually we engage in a discussion with another waiting customer at places like this, but on Tuesday there were only two other adult men there who were very wrapped up in their magazines, so we didn’t talk to them. I’m an introvert by nature, so I have learned quite a lot from Wood Sprite about initiating discussions with strangers.

All in all, I’d say that she learned quite a bit during her visit, as she usually does. She decided that she found the perfect tire for a tire swing, too.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia