Growing up my dad would do anything to avoid buying a new car part for our cars. And he wouldn’t dream of taking it to a mechanic.\u00a0 It wasn’t because he was poor. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t rich either, but he didn’t believe in “wasting money.”\u00a0 So his self taught philosophy was: “I can do it myself, don’t you worry, it won’t cost you a thing.”<\/p>\n
The man spent hours calling junkyards to find car parts he was looking for.\u00a0 “Have you got a carburetor for an ’81 Toyota?”\u00a0 I would stand behind him in the kitchen and hope that the dirty man on the other end of the phone had the part. \u00a0 That was just the first step.\u00a0 I knew it would be a long haul before the part would be put in my old car. And longer yet to see if it would work, which was never guaranteed.<\/p>\n
When at last he found it, he swelled with pride at the money he would save the both of us! But that meant retrieving the part himself, which never looked as easy as he made it sound!\u00a0 He drove hours sometimes to get to the right junkyard, and took hours more retrieving the part.<\/p>\n
Puddles of rusty water and remnants of dead animals were no match for my dad. “A little dirt never hurt anybody,” he would tell me.\u00a0 Wrestling with bolts long ago joined with their original parts was part of the fun, he claimed. Fun? Then why were there all the swear words and blood?<\/p>\n
After it was installed, I quickly learned\u00a0 to start praying because \u00a0there would always be leftover stuff on the ground. I would ask about the extra parts and his response would be “Superfluous parts that are not needed.”\u00a0 Well I SURE didn’t believe THAT.\u00a0 Oh, that noise I’m hearing now?\u00a0 Just ignore it, it’s nothing.\u00a0 But let me tell you, he ALWAYS fixed it, ALWAYS.<\/p>\n
Now that he is older and I am older, I’m careful not to even mention anything wrong with my car because these conversations end with him shouting, “Why don’t you let ME do it? I can save you money!”\u00a0 Geez, dad, don’t you know I can’t afford to go a week without my car? And I can afford to get it fixed in one day with the guy down the street.<\/p>\n
Now he’s 75, but you know what?\u00a0 I don’t have the heart NOT to let him try these days.\u00a0 I quietly rent a car in the meantime. After all, he’s not gonna be around forever, and it gives him such joy to know he’s helping me “save” money.<\/p>\n