By Kathie Savelesky
I'm a female from an era when few females dealt with auto mechanical stuff- not that many do now.
Out of necessity, I suppose I know a little more about mechanics than the average female from my years of driving Volkswagen buses. That doesn't mean I know a lot, or that I like to use that knowledge at all.
I used to have a real distaste for even walking into an auto supply store. I am not the only female who feels that auto parts clerks "see me coming,GÇ¥ and proceed with a condescending attitude merely because I am not a male and therefore perhaps not as knowledgeable about cars as they.
A few years back, I ordered an oil filter from a local parts store that is no longer in business in Monroe (maybe for reasons such as this). The gentleman, after getting my year, make and model, asked me if the filter screwed in to the right or the left.
Thinking that this information was not relevant to my procurement of the proper oil filter, and without a word, I turned and left the store.
And went straight to Highway Auto Supply. They laughed at my story, and they got me my filter. And they have been my auto parts supplier ever since.
Don and the great folks at Highway will answer my questions and troubleshoot with me, allowing for my occasional use of the word "thingy.GÇ¥
A couple of months ago, I went in to get new wipers. The place wasn't busy, and the gentleman behind the counter put the new blades on the car for me!
I was telling that story to a male friend of mine who assumed that the free installation was because I was a female. To prove his point he went in the next day, bought new wipers and asked if they would put them on his car. To his surprise they did put on those wipers, and they gained yet another faithful customer.
In the world of cars, car parts and car repairs, all that really matters to me is a good product and a little respect. Highway Auto Supply continues to give me both.
Kathie Savelesky is the office manager of the Monroe Monitor.-á
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