Kickass and the flat spare saga

Kickass, the doorstop dog, says the keeper has been driving around without a spare tire since a sidewall calamity several weeks ago, followed by his refusal to pay $330 to the lease company for a replacement tire on a car that has less than a year left on the lease.  He thought that would be like buying a new tire for a neighbor he didn’t even know.  So the keeper experienced bouts of outrage and disgust with car leasing, and he really hoped he did not have another flat tire because you cannot drive a four wheeled car with only three wheels.  Then he called American Automotive out on Madison’s Sycamore Ave. and an actual human answered the phone and, after a quick look, said yes they had a tire that size for $40 and would mount it for another $20.  When the keeper arrived at the facility there was no waiting as two burly, good-humored guys wrestled the keeper’s spare off and then back on and fastened it into its proper place as easily as you would peel an orange.  Recently beset from all angles by an impersonal tech world, tired of conversations with telephone recordings and accustomed to interminable waits for service or even simple acknowledgment, the keeper found the simple and efficient Sycamore Avenue tire experience downright invigorating.  It doesn’t take much to please him.  Even a repaired spare tire will do it, that and some genuine human contact along with saving $270.