Jiffy Noob

This month’s dare is to work at a Jiffy Lube for a day.  One way to go about this is Leonardo-DiCaprio-Catch-Me-If-You-Can style — show up at a Jiffy Lube in a uniform and start working on the cars as if I belonged there.  You laugh, but I wouldn’t put it completely beyond me.  Seriously though, there are so many reasons why that’s a bad idea — the least of which is that I will probably lose a finger due to my woeful incompetence with power tools. Indeed, I suspect this is the reason why my friend Emily challenged me to this dare in the first place.  She, on the other hand, has built her car from scratch and has been the person I call whenever I have a car question.

Given that I’m not seeking any remuneration from my day of work, I was hoping that I could convince someone to let me work at their establishment.  I compiled a long list of car maintenance and repair shops near where I live.   I think my biggest hurdle though is the issue of liability.  Even though I’m offering to work for free, businesses wouldn’t want to get sued if something were to happen to me.  Since preparation is the key to success, I found a release of liability form online. If I encounter such objections, my plan is to whip out the form and go, lookee here, I will “WAIVE, RELEASE, AND DISCHARGE you from any and all liability for my volunteer work, including but not limited to, liability arising from the negligence or fault of the entities or persons released, for my personal injury, disability, and death.”

Next, to dress code.  I needed to wear practical work clothing on the job, but when going out to prospect the job, I thought I shouldn’t look like a slob.  So here is my practical but still feminine choice: skinny jeans, fitted cashmere sweater, black blazer and Cole Hann heels.  I brought a pair of work boots to change into in case I were to be granted permission and could start working on the spot.

On game day, bright and early in the morning, I drove out to the Jiffy Lube in Watertown.  It’s one of the only Jiffy Lube branches near where I live.  I walked into the tiny office attached to the mechanic shop.

“Hi!” I gave my friendliest and most disarming smile.

“Can I help you?”  The guy at the counter greeted me with a heavy accent.

“Yes, hi.  My name is Ann and I’m a career coach.  I’m trying to learn more about different mechanical and technical careers, I would love to work here for a day on a volunteer basis.”  I smiled again and hoped that he’d say yes.

“Oh, you will have to talk to my manager Louis.”  He waved to someone in the shop outside and Louis came in.  I reiterated my request.

From the way he listened and carried himself, I could see that Louis is efficient, practical and no nonsense.  After I finished, he didn’t skip a beat: “We’d love to have you here.  First, you will have to get permission from Corporate.”  He handed me a California number to call and that was that.  I have a feeling that if I had walked in asking if I can paint golden unicorns on the ceiling, he’d respond in much the same way.

Next, I went to a Valvoline on Brighton Ave.  The manager there was super nice.  He hesitated longer, but in the end, he also pointed me to the corporate manager’s contact information.  By this time, I figured that I will probably need to go to a mom & pop place where the managers are fully empowered to make business decisions.  I was driving toward one when I saw Brighton Mortor Service, a small place that didn’t seem to be a chain.  I made a spontaneous stop.  I spoke to the manager there, a very nice man.  He said that he totally would except there will be welding going on and sparks will be flying every where and it won’t be safe.  On top of that, they had an apprentice a few month back who hurt his finger and sued them.  So, he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, my whipping out the liability release form notwithstanding.

Frankly, I totally see where he is coming from.  Why invite trouble?  He has nothing to gain.  I made up my mind to not feel discouraged until the 20th rejection.  There are a lot of places to try if I cover a large enough radius, SOMEONE is bound to say yes.

With that thought, I headed to a local service station just down the street from where I live.  I was referred to the manager K.  He spoke to me in a calm Italian accent.  After I explained what I wanted.  He said, sure and when would I like to start.  I was over joyed and was ready to roll up my sleeves and change into my boots, but he said today is not so good, how about Tuesday.  I told him I will be there bright and early.

I hope hope hope he doesn’t change his mind.

Links to related posts:

• Part 2: Loose Nuts and Dipsticks