Last week I mentioned my dismay at prematurely parting with $700 (due to car repairs). Last Thursday it got better (that is supposed to be an example of sarcasm). I was driving home from the office when my car showed signs of disfunction. The symptoms screamed maladjustment to me, so I was initially hoping to get the problem fixed free of charge. I called the mechanic and reported my feelings, so it would get the proper care the next morning. The mechanic did not seem to share my views, and stated his belief that another repair bill was in my immediate future. I was not a happy camper. Worse, I was so sure of my uneducated beliefs that I was certain I was about to be had. Cheryl and I spent the better part of twenty-four hours waiting for our fears to be realized: that we could not trust our formerly trustworthy mechanic. I was one part angry and three parts depressed. Relief was mine when we found out there was no charge. Now the question is this: is it better to for your mechanic to be dishonest or negligent?

I like to think that I know a little bit about many things, just enough to get myself into trouble. What do “they” say, Jack of all trades – master of none? I would like to think there is something to be said for ordering the sampler patter, but maybe there is something to be said for enjoying a heaping helping of one thing. Maybe I’ll find out some day.

Going from place to place, day to day, I come across people who seem to be comfortable everywhere they go. Everyplace is like home, and that is exactly how they seem. I am not one of those people. Just today I was standing in line to pay for something and the person ahead of me was jabbering with the person behind the counter like it was their sister. Occasionally, the person behind the counter would look up with a kind of pleading look on her face; a look that said: “would you happen to have a large, preferably heavy, blunt object on you?” After rescheduling a follow-up appointment twice and learning that woman checking out didn’t like to miss bible study, that she liked coming to doctor’s appointments alone less, that she was busy most days of the week with regular activities but felt inconvenienced having to come in twice in one month (once for herself and once for her husband’s appointment), that she just got that new credit card in the mail, that it may not work because she may have forgotten to activate it, that she didn’t have another one to try when the new one didn’t work, that she shared the account with her husband, that they both really liked the account and all of the membership benefits, that she had activated the new card after all, and that she didn’t care for the cool weather we’re having – she left. I was every bit the antithesis of the person before me. I was in and out in under four words. In case you’re wondering, they were: “yes”, “you’re”, and “welcome”.

I am not at home, I am in a doctor’s office. Should there be a difference?