There are limits to my Dad's knowledge

All three bays were empty, so I pulled into the closest one where two guys were standing around. They looked up eagerly, and one moved to the end of the pit in the floor to guide me in. I shut off my engine, grabbed my book and water, unlocked the door and stepped out.

"Here for an oil change?" the one who'd stood in front of my car asked. He was young, blonde, and rather good looking.

"Yes."

"Have you been here before?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"So you know all about the services?"

With a knowing smile, I said, "Yup."

"Good," he smiled. "It'll take about 15 minutes. You can have a seat in there," he said, pointing to the office.

"OK, thanks." I'd noticed some chairs outside when I pulled in, so I walked out of the bay to those. It was windy, but the building provided a perfect strip of shade to sit in and it was so gorgeous out that I didn't mind. I took a swig of water and started reading On The Road.

I had just flipped the first page when the other young mechanic, a cute brunette, approached. "Excuse me, ma'am. You know, it's only been 1400 miles since your last oil change. Do you still want us to go ahead?"

I looked up at him for a moment. I had known it and it had been a topic of some debate with my father. Though I know there are limits to my Dad's knowledge, I still expect him to know stuff about cars, plumbing, and home repair, and I confess I'm sometimes disappointed when he can't answer my questions. My car manual hadn't been helpful either. Though I'm well aware that the 3 month/3000 miles bit is not necessary for my car (or most that I know of), I wasn't certain whether oil changes just came down to mileage or if after some period of time, you should also get one regardless of mileage. It had been a year since my last oil change which felt like a long time, and Dad said once a year sounded like a safe bet.

"Is it just a mileage thing?" I asked.

"Honestly, yeah," he began, "We already drained your oil, but what we can do is refill it free of charge."

"That'd be great."

He said, "OK," and walked back in.

I could scarcely believe my good luck. I'm no auto guru, but it sounded rather like a free oil change to me. Sweet!

About seven minutes later, the blonde rounded the corner of the building in my car and parked in front of me. He stepped out and said, "We cleaned the inside for you too."

I gave him my best smile and said, "Thanks." Yea for the cute boys at Jiffy Lube.

tags: oil+change, Jiffy+Lube, auto+information