Earlier this week I babysat for some friends late in the evening.  Super easy gig since kiddos were already in bed, but they also happen to be some of my fave littles so either way I was happy.  I parked on the street as I am wont to do here in SoCal WHERE THEY DON’T BELIEVE IN PARKING LOTS…oh, ahem…yes, so I was saying, I parked on the street.  But not my normal side street.  No no, I decided to be lazy and park on the main street right in front of the gate, “Aha!” I thought, “Perfect spot!”

Later that evening when I came out to my car after a grueling evening of watching movies I noticed that my driver-side mirror was missing.  Just the glass, not the entire housing.  Hmmm…no shattered glass on the floor around my car.  “Did these fools seriously just steal my glass?!”  I thought out-loud to myself.  *sigh…growl…other things that will remain untyped…

I decided the repair seemed like something I could figure out and do myself.  I mean, c’mon, I totally know how to operate duct tape, how hard could this be?  So I rolled up to my local auto parts shop and inquired about replacement glass for my mirror–coupla bucks right?  Wrong.  Seventy-five dollars later I’ve ordered myself a brand new mirror and housing.  Awesome. 

I returned to aforementioned parts store today to pick up my mirror.  This is, of course, after getting a message from the guy at the shop informing me that my part came in stating, “Yeah, Mav?  Your mirror is here so, uh come and get it okay?”  I wasn’t sure if that was a pick-up line or just a really unprofessional way of letting me know my part was in.  Now mind you, I had a ridiculously long day seeing my first client at 8am this morning and wrapping up a 1.5hour assessment session at 7:45pm this evening.  Yeah, loooOOOOOooong day.

So I schlep into the shop feeling particularly haggard and thinking to myself, “Seriously Mav, what have you gotten yourself into?  You think you’re just gonna pull apart your door and stick this sucker in there and *presto* have a new mirror?”  To which I replied to self, “Yep.”

I roll up to the counter where young dude (totally had to be the guy that left the stunning message) asks if I’m the girl with the mirror.  “Yes, that’s me.”  Older and not-too-hard-on-the-eyes guy leans on the counter and observes outloud how tired I look.  “Yes, indeed I am.”

Then he says with a totally straight face and sincere tone, “Well, I don’t know if this will make a difference in your day, but I have to say you are very pretty.”
“AAahhh, you are a wise man, you know just what to say to the ladies.”
“No please, I am not just saying that.  I mean this for sure, you are very pretty.”
(oh, and did I mention he had a lovely accent?  Mmm, yes he did).
“Well thank you, and yes, it did improve my day!” *smile…possibly a batted eyelash or two…

I checked out the part, it was indeed what I ordered so I thanked the gentlemen and bade them goodnight.  It’s is very possible that I strutted out of there with a little sass in my step

So thank you Auto Parts Shop Guy for making my evening just a bit brighter.  And thanks for not being at all creepy about it!

* PS: stay tuned for photo documentation of how the repair/installation goes!  Always an Adventure!