Changing a Tire

I might be a Mormon in Utah, but I grew up outside of Utah. I grew up in good old South Dakota. There my mommy taught me how to cook, clean, and keep house, and my daddy taught me how to take care of my car and be responsible and make decisions.

Surprising how many people didn't learn one or all of the above mentioned things. For instance: the house MUST be clean before Sunday. I prefer it to stay tidy. Knowing the state of my bedroom for the past week and a half, you wouldn't think so, but the living room was utterly devoid of clutter for those whole ten days (apology directed towards my less neat-freakish roommates).

Also, I learned how to change a tire. So last week, we went to an Institute activity in the middle of no where at a girls camp somewhere (they really have those here! Camps just for Girls Camp!) and we got SO lost and we finally found the place and climbed out and as we were walking away, I heard "pshhhhhhhh".... From experience, I know that sound. The sound of a tire deflating. Awesome.

Being a country girl, I ignored my tire while I went and found food. After a hot dog and a couple s'mores, I decided I was ready to handle the situation. Going back to my truck, I discovered that I didn't have anything to change it with.

So I went in search of someone who did. Surprise! All these city boys don't have a jack big enough for my Tacoma. In fact, no one really had a jack at all. So this guy says that he does and we go off and get his jack from his car and as we were walking, I turned to him and asked, "You know how to change a tire, right?"

...His response? "Uhh...." *turns to his roommate* "Jon, you know how to change a tire, right?"

Are you kidding me? Jon's going, "I learned in Mutual once... a long time ago...." I stepped in, "It's okay, I know how to change a tire." I just didn't have the equipment to do so.

But heaven forbid a girl in Utah change a tire by herself. 20 minutes later I find myself shuffled off to the side while a group of boys that gradually increases as more people drive by and then stop to help. To top it off, the whole night it was raining/drizzling, so everyone's cold and getting hypothermia and covered in mud.

So how many boys in Utah does it take to change a tire? Go ahead and guess. I'll tell you from my experience, it takes eight. Plus my roommates that are with me and two girls that were on a double date with two of the boys helping are all standing off to the side.

And I'm not the kind of person to be shuffled off to the side, so I'm in there helping and on the ground in the mud right along with them, which I think surprised them. I guess they're not used to their Utah girls being muddy, but I'm a South Dakota girl and proud, and anyway, I never was or claimed to be a lady.

So we got the tire changed and happy and the world was right again.