Mr. Penny Pincher: How a Flat Tire Provided a New Perspective

Several years ago, I read a book called “The Working Poor.” The concept of the book centered around 5-6 working Americans who had a hard time getting ahead due to a lack of education, opportunities where they lived or some other life event. I remember reading it and thinking about how lucky I was to have experienced a relatively easy life in comparison. 

Fast forward to earlier this week, specifically 7am on my way back from the gym. As I veered off the road, the result of a stupid decision to reach for my phone to see who was calling, my tire hit a huge divot and immediately popped. A flat tire all but assured, I pulled off to a business parking lot to assess the damage. 

There was no saving the tire so I opened the trunk to get out the spare. As I removed the lug nuts, one of them was stuck and wouldn’t budge. The more I tried to get it off, the more it became stripped. With no way of removing it, I reluctantly called for assistance through my insurance company. Around an hour later, a gentleman showed up to help, complete with a plethora of tools at the ready housed in the trunk of his car. 

As he began to remove his tools, I mentioned one of the lug nuts was stripped. He replied with, “that won’t be a problem” and reached for an additional tool to help him pry it loose. Within five minutes, he had the tire removed and the spare affixed to my car. I was back in business, or so I thought. 

The spare had very little air in it so it needed to be pumped up. Not a problem, he had a small air compressor ready to be deployed. As the tire filled with air, we spoke for around ten minutes. I asked him about the job and whether he liked it, how many appointments he went on each day or whether or not this was full time or part time work. His casual response to my last question was humbling to say the least. 

He said he worked 7 days a week and tried to complete twenty appointments a day. Twenty! Mind you, he’s driving all over the Charlotte metro area to help people like me who are stranded with no way of getting home. His day usually started at 7am and went well past 6pm, again, 7 days a week. This is not because he wanted to. When I mentioned that has to be tough not having a day off, he replied “I need the money, so I do what I gotta do.”

This hard working man most likely could’ve been featured in the book I had read so many years ago.  

My tire blew and for that I was pretty upset. My morning routine was thrown off. Breakfast, my job and anything else I wanted to get done would have to wait. When I was done speaking with the service tech who helped me, all the worries and anger I had been feeling went away. I began to think about what a flat tire would mean to him. He’d be able to fix it, but what of the expense for the new tire? How catastrophic would that be to him and his family? 

Thankfully for me, I was able to get the tire replaced the next day, replacing the other front tire to make sure there was no issue with tread wear in the future. This untimely expense came to almost $400, which is quite a chunk of change for something that was unplanned. As I paid the bill, I couldn’t help but feel a huge sense of gratitude for being able to absorb the expense without it sinking my monthly budget. 

My Mom has a saying that she uses all the time, “everything happens for a reason.” My tire blew earlier this week not so I could get a new set of tires, but so I could find a new perspective. My little inconvenience is a catastrophic event for someone else. 

I’ll probably never see the service technician who helped me that morning again, but I won’t need to. Every time I get behind the wheel and head down the road, I’ll have him to thank—not just for fixing my tire, but for reminding me how fortunate I am.