The Rental Car Flat Tire Scare
"God answers our prayers not because we are good, but because He is good." – A.W. Tozer
A few days ago, we made the journey from San Antonio to Houston. Our daughter and a friend were attending a Morgan Wallen concert at NRG Stadium, so we decided to make it a two-day family trip to H-Town, and it turned out to be a fun weekend.
By the way, I had no idea who Morgan Wallen is … but I do know that he is a quite popular country singer, and I am basing this assessment on the price we paid for the tickets!
My wife Dulce gave the 17-year-old kids a ride to the concert, and she had to drop them off a good distance away because of traffic. I think they walked about a mile in the Houston heat before finally making it to the concert venue.
The idea was for them to take Uber home, since we figured the pick-up would be right at NRG Stadium, but our daughter called after the concert, and said the Uber app was reporting a $118 fare for the 13-mile drive.
So … at 11 pm, I jumped out of bed and headed to the stadium! Oh … the life of a parent! Ha!
Drive to San Antonio
Because there were six of us traveling to Houston, I decided to rent a van from Avis Rental Car. I’ve rented from Avis since 1993 when I began traveling extensively to referee collegiate basketball games, and I’ve never had any major issues with cars.
However, my luck was about to run out on this drive home.
About 25 miles outside of Houston, and as we approached the small Texas town of Sealy, I felt the van wobble a bit and immediately smelled burnt rubber. After a half mile, I could tell that we needed to make our way to the shoulder, and we thank God that I was able to maneuver the vehicle to a safe stop.
Calling Roadside Assistance
My wife quickly provided the USAA roadside assistance phone number, and I called it. The agent on the other end of the line asked the required questions, such as …
“Is everyone in the vehicle safe?”
“What seems to be the problem?”
“May I send you a text to determine your location?”
This process took a bit longer than I hoped, but before long, we were told that help was on its way.
Two Roadside Assistance Vehicles
The first vehicle to arrive after about 25 minutes of waiting was a white truck with a heavy-duty floor jack. Shortly thereafter, a big tow truck pulled up to help.
I thought to myself … “Wow! USAA is sending every possible rescue vehicle to resolve this problem!”
After a few minutes of chatting with the men from both companies, we decided that the tow truck was not necessary, given that we just needed a new tire. The tow truck driver was very nice, and he was soon on his way, closing the ticket.
By the way, you are probably thinking … “Why not just install the spare tire?”
Well, we discovered that the rented van did not have a spare! What! Is this even legal?
On His Way!
The tire repair guy told us that he would take our tire to his shop, put on a new one, and return within an hour or so.
After he left, and as we sat in the car running the AC, we realized that the tow truck was dispatched by USAA, and not the tire repair guy.
We deduced that the tire guy was driving up-and-down the highway looking for disabled vehicles, which was the right assumption.
Before he drove away with our tire, I did catch his name, though … Chencho.
He provided a phone number, but when I called it, someone else answered. Not good!
We thought … “Oh no! There’s someone on I-10 stealing wheels!”
We were nervous and embarrassed about the situation. We were hoodwinked!
At this time, our son Aaron remembered that Chencho had a shirt that read “Lopez Tire Service.” We did a quick search on our iPhones and found a tire shop with this name a few miles away. We called it and I asked for Chencho.
He was there and working on our tire! He would return to our location in 20 minutes.
Chencho was a man of his word. In about 30 minutes, we had a new tire, and we now have a $250 claim with Avis Rental Car.
The takeaway for me is the prayer I said earlier in the day …
“God, thank you for allowing us to have this family trip together … we are so blessed! Also, Lord, please keep us safe on our drive home today.”
Prayers answered!
One more thing before I go … I had my 6-month knee replacement appointment with the surgeon. The x-rays look great, and he said, “All good on this side! See you in 5 years!”
Another prayer answered! God is Good!
See you next week, my friends!
Closing Quotes
"More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones." – Truman Capote
"God does not always answer our prayers the way we want Him to, but He always answers." – Lou Holtz
Homework Inquiry
During the next week, here’s your homework inquiry: How will you be thankful for the blessings that come your way?
I use this opportunity to share with you a unique story and a couple inspiring quotes. Oh ... as a professor at heart, you guessed it, I have a homework inquiry for you. This is a powerful question that might just trigger you to take action on something that really matters in your life. If you feel the Catalyst Newsletter brings benefit to you.