Writing Lessons from the Side of the Road

Last Friday, I had a flat tire on the way to work. If I lived and worked in the same city, this might not have been such a big deal, but my job is a 65-mile drive down a lightly populated but heavily trafficked freeway. I was stuck on the side of the road at least five miles from anywhere that I could get any help. I’m not a mechanic. I wouldn’t even call myself handy. When we buy a piece of furniture that needs to be assembled, my wife generally puts it together. That said, I have changed a tire once or twice in my life, so I had a general idea of what to do. Still I was a little panicked.

For a moment, I wasn’t even sure if I had the equipment to change a tire. I used to have a road kit in my car, but somewhere along the line it had gone missing. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if I had a spare tire. I was driving a minivan, and had never actually seen a spare. I knew it wasn’t in the back of the van, so I took a look under the van and sure enough, there sat the temporary tire. I slid as far under the car as I could. I’m a big man, so sliding under cars is not my strong suit. I tried to unscrew the tire, but it was locked into place. After a few fruitless efforts, I went back to the cab of my car and sat there. I was frustrated and picked up my Blackberry, trying to find a nearby garage. I even made a call, but they didn’t provide towing service or mobile tire repair, so they were of no use.

I went around to the back of the van and opened the hatch. Looking around, I found a panel that opened up. Inside the panel was a jack and a short lug wrench (I had to look up that name later) but no instructions. I tried to use the jack to bang on what I thought was the screw holding up the tire, but it did nothing. I got out from under the car again and sat there for a while, watching the tractor trailers and other vehicles whiz by me so fast that the van rocked. It was about then I noticed that I was sitting next to a small cap in the floor of the van. I lifted the cap up and saw a large nut being held in place by a cotter pin (I actually knew what a cotter pin was). I took the lug wrench and tested to see if it fit the nut. It did.

For the first time that day, I began to think I might have a handle on the situation, but I wasn’t about to unscrew a nut without a little more to go on. It was time to ask for advice. I called my father and asked him if he knew how to get the wheel out from under a minivan. I told him about the nut, and asked what he thought. My father wasn’t sure either, but he put me on with my nephew, who agreed that the nut would probably lower the wheel. That was enough for me, so I got back to work on it.

Sure enough, by untightening the nut (righty tighty, lefty loosie) I began to crank down the tire. It turns out that the part that I thought was the screw holding it in was just a big bar to hold it tight. It was far bigger than the hole it covered though, so I still didn’t know how to get the tire off of the bar. It probably took another minute of evaluation for me to realize I just needed to turn it sideways.

Now that I had the tire out, the real fun could begin. The flat tire was on the rear driver’s side of the car, so I had to stand/squat with my back to the traffic passing about a foot or two away from me, and change the tire. First I had to break loose the nuts before I could jack up the van (even I know that you don’t want to try this once the wheel is in the air). Then I found find a good spot to attach the jack. I wasn’t very confident in the spot because it was under the outer body rather than further beneath the car, but there was a T-joint there so I told myself it had to be solid. I jacked up the car and removed the tire. As I was doing that, a truck driver chose to blast his horn at me. I nearly jumped out of my skin, but I got the tire off.

I tried to put the temporary tire on, but the van wasn’t high enough, so I had to jack it up further. I kept waiting for the jack to slip or the body to bend, but everything held up and I got the replacement tire on. Finally, I was able to pack up my stuff and get back on the road. I headed back to my house to relax for a few minutes. Once my hands stopped shaking I headed to a garage to get my flat fixed. After it was finished I treated myself to lunch at a good restaurant and had my car washed, then I went to get an emergency kit and a beginner’s book about car repair.

What does this have to do with writing? Maybe a little and maybe a lot, but here is some advice you might take from this.

1. Trouble can strike quickly and unexpectedly
2. Knowledge and preparation can save you frustration down the road
3. Sometimes you need to stop and evaluate your situation
4. There’s a difference between a temporary fix and a real solution
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice
6. When you get through a difficult situation, take a moment to celebrate
7. Try to be more prepared the next time trouble strikes