Roadside Drama

Call it Fate, Call it bad luck, you can even call it a twist of faith. Our adventure today was definitely something. Driving home from a festival was fairly normal. When I went to switch lanes I heard something hit the car. I didn't see anything, but it felt like something hit the car and I ran it over. When I looked in the rear view mirror I didn't see anything on the road. Very strange right? I continued to drive down the road and everything seemed fine. Wrote it off as one of those freak things that happens from time to time.

As I turned onto the last interstate that leads to our home I told my husband something didn't seem right with the car. I was fighting too much to keep the car straight. Then suddenly there was like a thump, loud noise, and smoke smell. I pulled over on the interstate.

The tire was flat! Less than a month old tire and it is flat and smoking as the rubber was burning. Getting the tools out and getting ready to change the tire and feeling stressed because we are right on the side of a busy interstate. Those of you who have watched those shows on T.V. where they have those amazing accidents on interstates can imagine the stress I felt thinking of my 2 kids on the side of the road.

In this day and age people just don't stop for stranded drivers. You cannot really blame them because so many bad things have happened. So, here we were on the side of the interstate and car after car just continue to drive by. Not that they weren't gawking at us, but none of them were about to stop.

Luckily for us that both my husband and I have had to change tires before so this should be a piece of cake right? Of course we were in a SUV and that is slightly different, but still we had changed tires before. Yes, even I a woman knew how to change the tire. Only one major issue stood in our way. The lock bolt on the tire was stripped and was too tight to take off. Being that our tires were only a month old the only determination is that the shop that put the tires on made the mistake of drilling the lock bolt on and over tightening them. Mistake number one for sure.

So here we are with a flat tire we cannot change because we cannot get the lock bolt off. We decide to call roadside assistance right. They can surely help get the lock bolt off so we can be on our way. I spend the next 20 minutes on the phone trying to get this done. They put me on hold and after 5 minutes say let me call you back.

2 police must stop at different times. They had not come out of the car and just asked if she needed him for help. My husband got me on the phone at the moment and I told him I was asking for help. He passed and left. The other policeman came out and asked us what was our plan. We explained the situation with the bolts and we were waiting for assistance. At this point, take our license number and make some excuses somewhere else so that they can not stay andhelp. She returned to her vehicle and left.

Roadside assistance calls back and says they are sending someone from across town and it was going to take 40 minutes. UGH! Here we are 2 kids on the side of the interstate already there for 30 minutes and they are asking us to wait 40 more minutes for someone to help. ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! Yes unfortunately this is the sad truth.

We called a friend of my husband who without hesitation jumped in his car and came to help. While waiting for the assistance they both tried to get the tire off. The lock bolt was a waste. The frustration grew as we were now into over an hour of this ordeal and still no resolution.

A small geo metro type car pulls up with an attached neon light on the top. You know the kind that look like a pizza delivery guy. The 3 of us adults stood stunned as we realized this was the guy being sent to us for roadside assistance. Where was the tow truck? He gets out and starts asking me how many miles are on the car and other crazy questions. If I have issues with my tire what does the miles on my car have anything to do with my problem.

Anyhoo.. Let me lay the scene. The vehicle is jacked up, the bolts are off except for the lock bolt, and the other tire is ready to put on. This roadside guy goes back to his vehicle and gets out a jack and a 4 bar. My husband and his friend were stunned. This guy did not observe any part of the situation at all. This guy spent about 2 minutes trying the same things my husband and his friend had been trying to do for 45 minutes. When he had no luck he said well there is nothing I can do except call you a tow truck! Oh this situation just isn't getting any better.

My husband's friend left in his car about the same time the roadside assistance guy was pulling away. He went to find the tools that we needed to get the lock bolt off and get this tire changed. Something we fully expected the roadside guy to do, but failed to produce.

After returning 10 minutes later my husband and him began to get the bolt lock off so we could finish changing the tire and be on our way. Suddenly a car pulls off. I was shocked; someone was stopping to assist us in getting this done. We didn't really need any more help, but it was nice right? He was talking but I approached the car since I could barely hear what he was saying. Much to my surprise he wasn't asking if he could help or if we were OK. Nope he wanted directions. Yes, I said he stopped a family stranded on the side of the street to ask if I could get directions. After explaining the right man at the point where he was going away is gone and I started to laugh. I mean, how amazing would that be.

So two hours into our ordeal has made it. 2 hours, changing a tire. Our suffering has taught us some things.

o Do not let your employees lock pneumatic drill on a car. This is something that does not hurt to ask, if you put on a tire. These are very sensitivebolts and if they are too tight you cannot get them off.
o When calling for roadside assistance be VERY specific on what you need. If you leave it up to them and they don't ask the right questions you could be like us and wasting a lot of time stranded.
o Never sit in the car during this ordeal. As unbelievable as this may sound it is actually safer to be on the side of the road away from the car in case there are any sudden accidents.
o Stay Calm, stress and anger are not going to help the situation so the calmer you are the better things will be.

Don't learn the lessons the hard way, don't be afraid to ask for help, and always work together as a team.