A slight rant.

I went out to my car on Sunday morning to drive to church with a friend, and I noticed that my windshield had a big honkin' crack in it. Not good news, man! I still need an EGR valve put in so that it will continue to deliver gas to the engine and allow the car to idle at stoplights and what not. Therefore, I do not need any more money to be going into that car. Sick. But, anyway, "A" and I drove to church and worshiped, and when we came back out at the end, I think the crack grew a little bit. I was slightly upset. Especially considering that within the last year, the solenoid (starter) went out, the fuel pump went bad, and now the EGR valve is malfunctioning too. So, that's A LOT of frickin' money that's been sapped up by Neno. Not good, Neno. Not good.

Anyway, I decided that I don't want to die on account of my windshield shattering someday (unlikely, but possible), so I decided to make some phone calls today and get estimates at how much it would cost to fix/replace the thing. I was hoping that it could be fixed. I opened up my phonebook to the Glass/Auto pages and called the first place.

Let me just say, "Oh Veh!"

Some guy answered the phone and I said, "I have a question. I have a crack in my windshield about a foot long. I wondered if I could have it fixed, or if it needs to be replaced." And the guy replied, "Oh, a foot long; it definitely needs to be replaced. If the problem spot is able to be covered by a silver dollar, then it can be replaced. But if you let it go to a foot long, the windshield needs to be replaced. If you'd have brought this to me when you first noticed damage, I could have fixed it." I was slightly taken aback by this guys tone of voice with me. It wasn't said in a "nice" way; it was said in a, "You damn woman. If you were less stupid, you could have saved money" way.

So, I said, "Well, one day there was nothing there, and the next there was a huge crack in it." And that's the truth, folks. I haven't even driven anywhere in a while. I don't remember being pinged with a rock or anything recently or anything. So, I was ticked off that this guy thought I had the IQ of the glass windows he replaces. So, he gave me a quote, and I said I would get some more estimates and decide. And as we were talking, I put a huge X through their ad in the phonebook with the word "NO!" by them.

Now, don't get me wrong; I'm a VERY easy-going person. But one of the ONLY things that really tick me off is when men think that I'm stupid because of my two X chromosomes. I know a fairly decent amount about cars, and I'm willing to learn more. But I don't enjoy when I go into car places or talk to car people and they automatically assume I'm stupid. The worth of people is not dependent on how much they know about a ton of metal with parts in it.

So, I called 3 or 4 other places, and the women who answered were MUCH nicer. I have a new theory that car places tend to have women answer the phones because we are less intimidated by women who talk to us about cars. They are more respectful and don't come across as condescending. They also were much more helpful and informative. So, that's my theory. Smart car places employ women to answer the phones and deal with customer service. Now, I don't mean to man bash. I know there are LOTS of caring men out there. It's just too bad that some people tarnish these guys. That's not fair, but it's true. So, guys out there, I know that most of you are cool-please forgive me for generalizing. But this is not an isolated incident. I could tell you plenty of stories about my adventures into car places, when I know EXACTLY what I'm coming for, and I'm still treated like a pile of estrogen who isn't worth her weight in salt. It's annoying at the least, and frustrating/angering on the other end.

But anyway, I found a place where the people will come here and replace my windshield, and I found out my insurance company will pay for a bunch of it because my deductible is only $100dollars. Yeehaw. It's still a little more than I would like to be spending right now, but oh well.

So, there is my rant. And if you ever need a new windshield, call around and get estimates... The place I went with was about 20 bucks cheaper than the next cheapest place, AND the lady who answered the phone was nice. Valuable stuff, folks. And now, I feel like an adult because I was responsible about this issue. Yeehaw. Peace out.