Girly girls and car repairs

You know what bugs me sometimes about certain girls? I hate the way they stand there and get all girly when you do something like put a new battery in your car. I mean, I'm not very butch or anything, and I'm certainly not someone who does all my own car repairs & what have you. I don't even have my own power tools.

But some things are just easier to do yourself than to wait around until someone shows up to help you or do it for you. And what if they make the problem worse? I'd much rather take responsibility for it myself. Plus it's just embarrassing to me to feel so helpless in the face of something so simple. Like changing a tire, or putting a new battery in your increasingly decrepit minivan, or trimming the bushes around your house.

So that's why I was kind of irked when my neighbor (a woman around my own age) came out & gushed about how impressed she was that I could go to AutoPartsWorld all by myself, buy the right kind of battery, carry it out to the car all by my little lonesome, and then I was somehow able to lift the hood of my car, find my toolkit and work gloves, remove the battery cables, remove the old battery, install the new one, clean the cables and fastener clamp thingys, attach the cables (be sure to get the right cable on the right post - they're color coded to help you!), and start the damn car. All in less than 15 minutes, including the trip to AutoPartsWorld.

"Wow," she says. "I'm so impressed. I'd never be able to do all of that all by myself."

Of course she could. I can certainly understand not wanting to bother, and I certainly wouldn't have done it if I hadn't been reasonably sure it would solve the problem. I asked advice from my dad and another very competent amateur mechanic & one professional. And my sister. It was much cheaper than having it towed to the garage for them to put a new battery in it for me. And way less hassle than trying to jump start it and drive over to the auto parts store.

But I'm not exactly sure why I find my neighbor's attitude so annoying. For one thing, it took me like three days to get around to doing it, so I wasn't feeling all competent and efficient, if you know what I mean. And it was just one more thing I had to worry about in a week full of stupid and expensive things to worry about. And I was having just a bit of a hormonally-mediated worry-fest anyway.

But for me, at least, the ability to fix a simple thing like that makes me feel better. Like I can take care of myself. Plus, like cooking, it's fun! But I was talking about it to a guy I know & he didn't think my neighbor's attitude was so odd. He said he feels the same way in the kitchen. I guess it's sort of the same thing. I don't think everyone has to do everything for herself -- and it's a good thing to be able to ask for and accept help when you really do need it.