Women: I Bet You Know More About Cars Than You Think You Do

Do you Listen when people talk even when they are not talking to you? Do you pay attention at work and pick up little bits of knowledge that could help you in the future? I bet you do and don't even realize it. Your head is probably filled with information that you think is useless, but you never know someday that information may come in handy and you could even surprise yourself with what you know.

My husband is a mechanic and has been since the day I met him. I have also worked in close proximity with the automotive world myself. I have learned many things over the years that many women do not know or care to know. I was never taught these things but learned them by just listening when the mechanics (and my husband) would talk with customers or their friends about cars. What never ceases to amaze me though is that I know more than many men that I have come in contact with. I always thought all men had oil coursing through their veins. I grew up thinking that was just the way things were, that all men would eat, sleep, and drink thinking about cars.

My first real epiphany happened when I was working as a cashier at a local service station. A man came in and told me he needed to get his cars alignment checked because he had a vibration in the front end. I asked if he had just gotten new tires. Yes, he replies. Did the vibration start as soon as you got the new tires put on? Again, he said yes. Well I would recommend that you go back to the garage that put your tires on. Have them check your tires because they were probably balanced incorrectly or you got a bad tire. He kind of looked at me as if I was a crazed lunatic and said Ok, thanks. Then he left.

A few days later, he returned. He thanked me for my suggestion and said that the tires were not balanced properly. He said that the garage where he had gotten the tires rebalanced the for free and that I had just saved him $70. Now my boss may not have been happy with my car knowledge at that point, but I had made the customers day.

Another garage I was working at did state inspections. As part of the inspection, you had to verify that all of the emission components were still attached to the vehicle. I had to show the mechanics what the emission components were and where they were located at on the vehicles.

At this same garage, I was talking to one of the mechanics and saw a Chevy Tahoe being towed around the building. I just caught a glimpse of the taillight as it passed by a small back window of the garage. I said to the mechanic Here comes customer XYZ's Tahoe. What is it here for? He looked at me as if I had three heads and says how did you know that was customer XYZ's Tahoe all I saw was a blur? I looked at him and said because I saw the taillight as it came around the back of the building. He just walked away shaking his head.

Now I am not claiming that I know more about cars than all men not even most men. I am just stating my realization that not all men, even mechanics, know as much about cars as us women think they do. Or even as much as they would like us to think that they know. Take time to think about the things you know, it could surprise you and open you up to a whole new world with your wealth of information.