Cars Have Buttons but not for Everything
Hello everyone:
Just recently, I happened to walk past a gal who was heading towards the cutest little yellow Volkswagen bug. As she approached the car, she pushed the wrong button on her key- apparently she was trying to unlock the door but she hit the car alarm button instead. She finally managed to get the alarm stopped and proceeded to get into her car.
I could immediately tell that she was not used to the car, a manual rather than automatic transmission, as she stripped the gears (which made a horrid racket, especially at 6 am) while trying to get the car in gear.
As she put her foot on the brake, I noticed that her back left brake light was out. When she drove past me, I waved her down to tell her. She responded that she had just gotten her car the night before and was still learning what everything was for.
She immediately sped off before I could tell her that there was not a special button for the left rear brake; her brake light was not working and she needed to get it fixed before she got stopped by a police officer or had an accident.
Ladies, there are buttons for many things in your car, but a single brake light is not one of them.
If someone tells you that a brake light is out, there is no magic button to push to make it come back on. The light will need to be replaced or looked at by someone who knows something about cars.
While we are on the topic of driving manual transmission cars, she needed someone to teach her how to operate the vehicle before she was under the pressure of “I’m late to work.”
Additionally, the best time to learn how to drive a car with manual transmission is not on the way to work when you are ahead of a school bus full of kids and stopped at a traffic light that turns green. Stalling your car numerous times in front of a bus driver who wants to drop off some noisy children will not endear you to that individual. Once again, this is the voice of experience. Don’t ask.
What amazing tale of woe do you have, related to car issues? I would love to hear your story.
Best,
Dr. Sheri