This time, I went to the San Francisco Auto Center (not on the web, unfortunately). I saw an ad in the Bernal Journal, clipped the coupon (oh, the things we do when we're unemployed...) and went to get my 2 month late smog check so I could renew my auto registration. I called first to see if they needed appointments. He said they liked 10-15 minutes notice & this morning was slow so I should just show up. So I did.

I knew I was close to the auto repair center when I saw the car parked in the middle of the street with the hood up. 'Car hood up' is usually a signal that Something is Wrong. I looked to the left and sure enough, there was the San Francisco Auto Center, my intended destination. I parked in front of the car-in-the-middle-of-the-street. I didn't leave my hood up since 1) this is San Francisco & double parking is expected and 2) the other car already had its hood up & more seemed to be overkill. Well, that's part of the reason. More on this later.

I walked inside the yard and a man who looked like Jerry Garcia-after-Slim Fast said "talk to me." I talked to him. He had been the one to answer my phone call about the smog check. He directed me to the Smog Check Parking Spot and asked that I leave the car running and pop the hood.

Now here's a problem. To me, cars are transportation. I don't know much about them and I don't want to know any more about them. My method of changing a tire is to call AAA. There was a time long ago in the history of this car when it needed some repair. Part of the process involved opening the hood. I didn't know how to do this. The man at the repair shop kept asking me to pop the hood. I said there wasn't a lever for it. He said there was. I said no, there wasn't. He looked and looked at the front and asked me to look again. I said there wasn't anything. Finally, he came and look, found the lever himself & opened the hood. He was quite nice about it. Now the big question was: did I remember where to find that lever? Fortunately, the hood-opening-lever has a label on it: a picture of a car with an open hood. I found it without too much difficulty, now that I remembered that the thing existed in the first place.

There was a small amount of paperwork to fill out. I filled out the paperwork and had a difficult time remembering what year my car is. Either the car is older than I remember or my memory is starting to go. Or both.

I read the wall while I waited. This was a very interesting wall with some classic posters with old San Francisco history. I saw a poster for the Hooker's Ball and another for the 'City for Sale' San Francisco Mime Troupe show. And a few other things that made me smile, including a 'tow-away' sign. The sign looked like the usual "Unauthorized vehicles will be towed at owners expense" sign except it actually said (I'm paraphrasing, can't remember the exact wording) "Unaccompanied children will be towed away at parent's expense." I can think of a few places I'd like to post that sign!

While I waited, the man at the counter offered me a bagel 'cause it's bagel Fridays & they bring in bagels. I declined...although now, I kinda wish I'd accepted, not because I was hungry (which I was but I was also on my way to breakfast) but because of the gesture.

My car passed the smog check! While this wasn't as exciting as getting a Gold Star at school, there was still this fear of "what if doesn't pass?" "obviously, this means there is Something Wrong with me/my car?" Fortunately, the car passed so I didn't fall into a spiral of trying to find the answer to that question.

There was some small talk while the paperwork was settled. The smog check report got stapled to a receipt & my credit card was charged. I forgot the receipt for my credit card. As I was pulling out of the Smog Check Parking Spot, the man ran after me to give me the little yellow slip of paper. I didn't particularly want that piece of paper. I usually throw them in the bottom of my bag and forget about them until there are too many of them and then I throw them out. I'm not one of these people who goes home every night & enters all credit card transactions into Quicken. That's what my monthly statement is for.

I digress. I stopped and took the yellow receipt from him mostly for some contact. I really enjoyed talking with this man. This smog check process turned out to be quite pleasant. Many of the chain stores have three ring binders on customer service and process. I doubt that San Francisco Auto Center has a Customer Service binder or that they send their employees to Customer Service Training Class. They don't need to. There is a sincerity about the interaction that makes me want to go back.

Oh, and I took a picture: