The car wash: embarassing & awkward.

In an earlier post, I proclaimed my love for my new mini-van. I got it this past summer & I had been doing a pretty good job keeping it clean during the warmer months. Funny how that first blast of cold weather stopped me right in my tracks. There is nothing that can get me to wash the car myself once the temperature gets below 60 degrees. I am too much of a wuss.


And so, my beloved new car has been getting dirtier & dirtier. I finally decided today I could take it no more, so K & I drove over to the local car wash. Since my carpeting was all covered in mud & hay (don't ask), I decided the time had come for the full treatment. This place is more expensive than the gas station, but they will vacuum & dust the inside of your car after you go through their automatic car washing tunnel (or whatever you call those things you drive through).

Courtesy of Google images
Can someone tell me why there are so many nearly naked & wet women when you type in a search for Car wash on google images?

It must be a guy thing!

First the embarrassment:

So, I get through the automatic part of the car wash fine.... and just as my car is emerging (but still on those track things that guide your car though), a bearded guy rushes toward my car with a towel. The rear part of my car is still being washed, but I guess this guy was feeling uber efficient, so he decided to get a head start on the drying process. The problem though was that I was afraid I was going to hit him with my car. He was like the energizer bunny. He was darting & ducking & I was having trouble keeping him in sight.

All of the sudden he startled me by appearing at the front driver side bumper (I'm still not sure how he got there so quickly). As he approached my door he started talking to me. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I figured it was pretty important, so I decided to stick my head out the window, so I could hear him over all of the noise. But, since I obviously just gone through the car wash, MY WINDOWS WERE ALL CLOSED! So instead of sticking my head out, what I really did was manage to smack my melon so hard against the glass, that I SHATTERED MY SUNGLASSES COMPLETELY (I was using them as a headband. I was not wearing them on my face rock-star style in a dark car wash. Just an FYI).



Thankfully, my head is hard as a rock, so it only slowed me down a moment. When I finally got ahold of myself & realized what had happened I rolled down my window, only to be confronted by the same bearded man who was now laughing so hard he was having trouble talking to me.

"Your window was closed" he said still laughing quite hard.

"Yep" I replied turning dark crimson (darn this pasty skin of mine, I blush at the drop of a hat).

"I just need you to pull around to the vacuums."



That's it? That was his important message for me?! Duh! I knew that already. Why the rush sir? Why not just wave me on like all the other guys do? Geez. And if that weren't bad enough, he must've told all of his co-workers, so by the time I made it around to the vacuum station they were all chuckling & giving me the look. You know, the one that says, "Hi there dummy!"



No worries, I am pretty used to embarrassing myself, so I recover pretty quickly. I trip over nothing all the time in public. I walk into walls & fall up stairs. I wave back to total strangers who aren't waving to me at all, but are actually greeting the person behind me. I also talk back to people who are using those hands-free cell phone things because I don't see them hidden in their ears. And let's not forget the time I got stuck in the doors of a NYC subway car...

but I digress.... The point being, since these things happen to me so frequently, it no longer fazes me & I am usually able to laugh along with everyone else in pretty short order. So, I collected the shattered remains of my sunglasses & K and I headed inside to pay for our car wash.



Then the awkwardness:

K & I huddled in the nice warm waiting area while they finished removing all traces of mud & hay from the inside of my car. I was happy that the bearded guy wasn't the one working on my car. I was over the "incident" but I didn't want to relive it again. I started pulling together my tip money when I noticed the Mr. Beard approaching my car. Aaagh! Now I had to fish more money out for tips since there were now 2 of them working on the car. I don't consider myself cheap, but the wash is $15.99. Now I needed to tip 2 guys which brought the car wash up to $20.00. Since, it was 25 degrees outside & I sure wasn't game to wash it myself, I sucked it up and got out the extra cash.

The bearded buy disappeared again right before we got to the car, which was fine with me. I gave the first guy my $4.00. I figured all of the guys working pool their tips at the end of the shift & then split them out evenly. Is that right? Can someone verify that for me?

Image courtesy Google Images

'Cause here's the thing, right as I was getting K back into the van. That bearded guy appears out of nowhere - again startling me! Seriously, this guy should go into espionage or something, he's talents are being wasted at the car wash. He wishes me a Merry Christmas & starts talking about how tough times are. Then he mumbles a bit, and the vacuums go back on so I can't make out everything he's saying, but I am thinking he is fishing for a tip.... and I just gave the other guy my last $4.00! I thought they'd share it!

Now, I am starting to feel bad. Don't they share tips? At this point, I am just not sure what's going on anymore, because (of course) I am blushing again & wishing this guy Merry Christmas over & over again, while trying to get K all buckled in. He holds up his hand & he's holding what looks like two singles, but by now I really can't hear him over the vacuums & I can't tell if he is thanking me or asking for more money. So I said Merry Christmas (again...yes I am a dork!) and then jumped into the van & sped off....

I think I need to find a new car wash place....
Any recommendations? Maybe I'll just wait until spring & wash the darn thing myself. Stupid new car...