The Price of Safety

I recently had to take my car in for a service call.  With the Thanksgiving holiday break, I was fortunate that I didn't have to have my car on a daily basis for work purposes, but with the holiday, I was hindered by the garage also taking much deserved breaks to be with their families as well to celebrate their thanks, thus delaying the service of my vehicle.

So for the past several days, my family and I have been driving my wife's automobile to our destination, something that we generally do not do.  As we began driving, I first noticed that the radio was turned up to a loud level, one that I would say was louder than normal, and I just figured my wife, who like all others enjoys singing while driving alone :), was just jamming to one of her favorite tunes.

As we started down the road, I noticed that her car was not handling as well as I remembered, and felt that the ride was a "little rough".  After a short few miles, my observation quickly turned to the loud noise of bad tires.  This explains why the radio was so loud! It was hard to hear with the loudness of the tire.

Merry Christmas Honey! New tires! I think was my initial response.  So as protocol for the day we discussed and scoured the internet for the best holiday deals, and as I sat in the tire shop, looking over the paperwork of prices, warranties, and disclaimers, I came to two realizations: Looks can sometimes be deceiving, and you can't put a price on the safety and protection of your family.  Even though from an outside appearance level the tires looked good, upon further investigation I viewed two really worn tires, which the auto technician later relayed there were three.  I am sure that I will have to pay more than I would like, especially during the holiday season to get her car back on the road, but the price for the peace of mind, knowing that what we were doing was taking a step towards protection is certainly worth more than the sticker shock.

Automobiles and servicing them is expensive.  This is simply unavoidable.  However, having a reliable and safe means of transportation is paramount to career and family functions.  As we look for sales, especially this time of year, make sure that your discount is not in the name of safety.  Granted you do not have to have a brand new set of wheels with all the bells and whistles, however you do need to be able to have your family safe, which always becomes even more relevant during the winter months of ice and snow.

Let's put this into two parent perspectives.

Parent perspective #1:

The average life expectancy is right around 78.6 years. Of that time, we will drive our car on an average 4.3 years of our lives while covering the distance in miles to the moon and back 3 times!  We will spend 3 months of our lives just sitting in traffic!  At a going rate of 13,476 miles per year driven, we spend lots of time relying and dependent on our vehicles.

Parent perspective #2:

We often want our children to have what they want, from gadgets to clothes, and we justify this by saying things such as, “I want them to have more than what I had growing up".  I have even gone in this direction of justification within my own family.  Growing up in my family, I wouldn't say we were dirt poor, but we were certainly dusty! :)  However lessons I learned from my dad included the value of safety, the value of making good decisions, and the value of needs vs. wants.

It was often common practice when I was growing up in my neighborhood, that we all had our own service garages in our own driveways.  We were raised to be the “rotate the tires, change your own oil, and replace the plugs” kind of kids.   It was a time that you could work on cars, to keep the family safe, to keep the vehicle in the best shape possible.  From an early age, I learned that taking care of things is a valuable skill.

In fact, a great story to visualize this was when I was under the car on ramps fixing a catalytic converter when my sister first brought home this city slicker, that later would become her husband.  I have often asked him what he was thinking of his initial visit.  I always love his response, as he shared that he was hoping I was not part of a hugging type of family, with that grease all over me! :))

With holiday sales beginning prior to the holidays, and stores being open nearly 24 hours and at our disposal online, don't forget about the most important purchases, those that protect your family.  Don't forget about the valuable skill that we have an obligation to teach our children.  It is not about our kids getting, or having the best of things, or even about having more than we did growing up.  Our responsibilities as parents are not about the tokens and toys, the bells and whistles.

Our responsibilities do include being around for our children, to get them to and from all their events.  It is about having mom and dad traveling safely to and from work, stores, and other engagements.  It about passing on the valuable skills of protection, even if that price seems expensive at the time.

Monthly Quote:  "Success will always be with you as long as you place safety as the first priority." - Top 10 Safety Slogans

Monthly Challenge: Invest time to check the safety of your transportation.  In doing so, keep in mind that you are protecting your most important commodity, your family.  There are numerous upkeeps that can be monitored in the comfort of your own driveway.  Continuous upkeep is cheaper than complete overhaul.