I left home early for work yesterday. My co-worker and I had a lot to do together and I wanted to get a jump on it. Unfortunately, about 3/4 of the way into my commute an unusual sound made its presence known.
At first I thought it was a low flying jet. Then I thought it was someone's muffler. I soon realized it was coming from my car and I started heading for the shoulder. When I hit the rumble strip I knew that my tire had blown and my rim was grinding the pavement.
My first call was to the folks, but my dad had already left for work. So I called my roadside assistance. I know I should have learned a long time ago how to change a tire. That would be the smart thing to do. I could have attempted to figure it out because I've seen it done before. However, it was freezing yesterday and the thought of freezing my hands off didn't appeal to me.
The lovely thing about New York is that they have a service that travels the highways and assist drivers for free. At the time I did not know it was a free service, so when a help truck showed up then quickly departed when I told the driver that I had called my service, I didn't think too much of it.
After getting an automated call from the service that a tow company would be there in 45 minutes, a State Trooper K-9 unit with two officers showed up and quickly left when I told them when the tow service would be there. Then, about half an hour later, after I got another automated call notifying me that the service should be there in 15 minutes another trooper showed up. He proceeded to tell me that the help truck should have stayed with me, then left me. So a help truck driver paid to assist motorist and three state troopers all left me there alone on the side of the highway in the freezing cold.
When I was about to pick up the phone and call the service to see what was keeping them, a black beat up pick-up truck pulled in behind me. Fear started pulsing as Forensic File stories of helpless motorists being taken advantage of flashed through my head.
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