The Battery Challenge

     I drive a several-year-old Nissan, and I like it. I won't sell it because, after six years, it has only 49,000+ miles on it. That's a little over 8,000 a year, and to be honest with you, about 12,000 of those miles were done in three months that my son drove the car.  I go to the store and back. I take the occasional drive to the countryside. I don't drive very often. When my friend and I went to El Reno, a city just outside of OKC (20 miles), we had to drive home in a torrential rainfest. The entire way home was scary...and I mean, SCARY.

    My little car, I call him Stephen, was such a trouper. He just really did me proud, and with God's grace, we managed to get home. The rain and floods did their thing, and Stephen was forced to get his underbelly reattached or tightened; and I had to change out the filters and get a new battery - but thank God, we were OK. The car sat up pretty high, but the water was insistent, and it was persistent too. I thought we'd end up flooding it or doing whatever happens to cars that drive through water -- but it didn't happen.

    Today, I went to Sam's Club to pick up the new battery that AAA was going to install for me, but they informed me that Sam's Club had the same battery for about $100 less. As a member, I receive the installation free of charge, and they dispose of the old one without extra cost; however, they didn't have the battery I needed.  They had a "like" battery, but not the same. The reason they didn't have the same is that around 2023, the manufacturer stopped making my battery -- of course, they did. So, why didn't someone else just make the same one and call it something else?

    Oh no, I found myself at Sam's Club with a 20-year-old mechanic who knew as much as I did, but at my age, I have the ability to (a) ask for help and (b) Google it. I did something that he would never have thought of: I called AAA and asked the mechanic there to tell me what size battery I should get, even if it meant not going to AAA. The man told me, and he was glad to do it. The mechanic at AAA is about 10 years younger than me. He's no baby - the kid I was dealing with was stuck to his phone, sure, but he wasn't researching, he was texting someone.

    I found the store manager because there wasn't a department manager. I asked for help because the kid was up to his eyebrows trying to figure out what he should do. I told the manager what AAA said, and together we found the replacement battery. It was higher in CCA or Cold Crank Amps, but according to Google and the AAA mechanic, that was OK. The kid was concerned that the battery would fall out because it wasn't mounted on all sides - neither was the other one, and it lasted 6 years.  What should have taken 10 minutes took nearly 90 minutes, and I wasn't happy.

    I tipped the kid $10, and he stared at me. Why would I do that? Because I told him I was tipping him for trying, for listening, and for being available. I told him it's not easy being an adult; it means putting the phone down to do your job. It means researching instead of watching videos during downtime. He sort of smiled, but I knew he heard me. He may not do it, but he heard me.

    When I was walking away, a man came up to me and said, "You have more patience than me. I wanted to kick him to the curb, and he hadn't even gotten to my car's issue yet." I asked him if he remembered being twenty years old. He said Yeah, he was in a war. Good answer. I guess we all have to start somewhere. It never helps to get too upset. It works out when we work together, but yeah, kids need to put their phones down and focus on their work. Gone are the days when a boss can demand that sort of behavior. I would never hire someone who isn't as motivated as I am. Unless they were willing to learn as much as I am willing to teach.

Photo Credit: Duracell.com