Jerry the Bitter Ex-Marine

I went over a railroad track last night a little too "Dukes of Hazard" style. End result? A busted radiator and an overheating car on the way to work this morning. The nearest possible source for help was Knapp Chevrolet (corner of Houston and Washington Avenues) so I pulled in to their service area. The guy at the counter declares, "We're not allowed to work on Fords." Not allowed. I wonder if they had segregated parking lots and water hoses, too.

So I call the car care center where I usually go and they send a tow truck. While waiting, I sit in my car in the middle of the Knapp Chevrolet service bay enduring a breakfast from their vending machines and playing Tetris on my cell phone. An hour later, Jerry the Bitter Ex-Marine shows up with the tow truck. The drive to the car care center was like sitting through a twelve-minute movie written by Eddie Murphy about a conspiracy theorist war veteran. The role of Jerry would be played by Christopher Walken. I would not see that movie again.

To top it all off, I wore my new pink shirt today. I am OK with guys wearing pink, and I received confirmation today at work that it looked good and that I was a very "confident" man to be wearing it. That said, I would not have worn pink for my outing with Jerry the Bitter Ex-Marine. He never mentioned it and I never caught him looking at me funny ... but I have to believe it didn't help matters. At a minimum, it did make me feel even that much more like one of those guys who knows nothing about cars and who is not opposed to a manicure now and then. You know, the type of guy with whom Jerry the Bitter Ex-Marine probably does not play poker.

That type of guy would be somebody more like Dave Bray.