Oh

As mentioned, last Sunday my car had an apres Super Bowl meltdown. Today I called to have it towed in to be repaired. The driver looked at the floor of my car, picked up something that looked like a key chain, and asked if I knew what it was. He fit it into a space below the dashboard and, yep, vroom, that was it. Somehow the thingy that controls the car's entire system had fallen out. It's an anti-theft device, he explained. I can just take that part out and not have to worry about my car being stolen. Oh. Feeling very blonde, I thanked him profusely and was not on my way.

I was not on my way because last Sunday's tow truck driver had emergency braked my car in an over-zealous manner. I'll admit I'm a disgrace to modern women everywhere. I know nothing about cars. But I know that to release an emergency brake, you press in the spring-loaded button and start pushing the lever down. And if that doesn't work after three attempts and several curses, you get out, slam the door, and stomp down the street to the auto repair shop.

The owner of the shop told me to stop pushing down and to pull up- pull it tighter- and then it would release. Oh, ok. *snicker*

With promises to bring my car there for my next oil change -and I will, I'm nice that way- I walked back to my car and freed the brake.

Years ago I took an Aikido class. The instructor was a big guy, probably 6'3 and 250 pounds. He picked a tiny woman from the group- that's correct, not me- and showed how she could use his power for her own gain. In other words, instead of fighting her attacker, she could leverage his strength to push up against him and deftly slip away. His name was Terry Dobson. He'd written a book called Giving in to Get Your Way. The class and the book stayed with me. However, I too often forget to apply the core concept which pretty much is 'No, stupid, do the opposite.'

If pushing doesn't work, pull. If pulling doesn't work, push.

Excuse me, I'm off to apply this concept to my whole life.