The power of a recommendation, or, My Tire Change in the Ghetto

I worked at the bookstore a couple days last week, and a co-worker and I were musing over the power of recommendation. A lot of people come in without having a specific book in mind that they want, and so they ask us for suggestions. "I'm looking for... (fill in the blank... a book about baptism, a teen novel, Kolob, whatever) I think this is pretty common at any bookstore. We employees have read a lot of books at the store and so I assume the customers are relying on our so-called expertise to listen to what kind of book they are looking for and direct them to a good match. And even if we have nothing in common with these people, and the kind of books we read are not even close to the kind of books they read, they will very often go with the book we recommend, even though we are perfect strangers and may have nothing in common. We could hand them a book at the store we think is awful (there are some), and say how good it was, and they would take it. A personal testimonial about how good the book is goes a long way. It's very interesting to watch.

So that happened last week. And now just this week, I became one of those people that eagerly takes a recommendation from someone with expertise for something I was looking for. And that recommendation led to some very interesting consequences.

On Monday we went to the zoo. Chad had said to me before I left, "the tire pressure might be kind of low, so you might want to check that before you head out." He had previously said how he knew the tread on the tires was getting very low, so I had that on my radar as well as I pulled in to Wal-Mart to have air put in my tires. I was met by a very nice man in a Wal-Mart jumpsuit with a mouth full of gold teeth and earrings in his ears who agreed to fill my tires to the correct pressure. But as soon as he began, he got this very concerned look on his face and told me I was in danger of blowing out at any time because the front two tires were so dangerously low. Well, blown out tires were not something I wanted to deal with with two children in the car, and Gold Teeth seemed really to know what he was talking about, and also concerned about my well being. And I could tell, I mean, I knew that the tire tread was pretty bad. So I asked him for his recommendation. Of course he was going to recommend to have them replaced, but he really seemed like it was more for my safety than to make a sale. So anyway, as it turns out, Wal-Mart didn't have the tires I needed, so he recommended a place down 249 I could go to that had very reasonable prices. So with that recommendation from someone who was in the know, I hopped back in the car and drove down 249 and under the beltway. As soon as I saw the place I was going to, I was really uneasy about going in. I even considered trying to drive to the zoo with the tires how they were. But I had a feeling that wasn't smart. So I pulled into the lot hoping the tire change could go as quickly as possible. I was met this time by a multitude of men with ethnicities different than mine. For a second I was afraid I'd need to speak spanish but fortunately the two I spoke with had fairly good english. I explained what I needed and then went inside with my children to wait. I consciously made an effort not to leave any valuables in the car. It wasn't necessarily the people there that caused my unease, because all of them were really nice, but it was the feel of the place. It was part auto-fix-up, part salvage yard, apparently, because to the side of the garage, there was an awning with a decade's worth of rusty car, boat and jet ski parts piled up about ten feet high. There were bars on the windows and doors of the waiting area, which could barely be called that, because there were about two chairs to sit on, and it was so jam packed with resale items-- old framed pictures, old china sets, old cash registers, and I know somebody there must have been of the Hindu religion, because there were fancy decorated elephant shrines everywhere, and lit candles. And while I congratulated myself on knowing this elephant was named Ganesh, I was very much creeped out by the whole interior. Everything was covered with dust. And then I began to notice what was on the walls. A rifle on one wall. A survellaince camera and a TV showing what the cameras outside were recording. Fancy chrome tire rims. Signed posters of people I have no idea who they were. Several posters with Trindad and Tobago on them. All this gave me severe unease. And then I noticed the posted signs. One, on the inside, said, "We will not buy stolen merchandise. You must provide proper identification." And then there was the one on the outside. It was fairly large and I guess was to discourage theft. On it was a picture of a gun, positioned as if you were staring into the barrel of it, with the words, "Caution: If you are found here tonight, you will still be found here tomorrow." (As in, if you are caught here tonight, you will be shot and be lying here dead tomorrow.) As the meaning of that particular sign sunk in, I was ready to just throw my children into the car and peel out of the lot as fast as I could go, with no regard to my tires. I could just go back to Wal-Mart another day. Heck, I could go find a discount tire somewhere, anywhere, I'm sure they would have the tires I needed for a reasonable price (they are discount tire, after all). But because I listened to the recommendation of a stranger, on where to find a tire place that had the tires I needed at a reasonable price, I landed here. I honestly could not have gotten out of there fast enough. Truly, I can attest, while the people were nice, and were no cause for alarm (except the uncomfortable feeling you have when someone is speaking another language and you have no idea what they're saying, and it could be about you). But while the people were nice, the Spirit was NOT in that place. That was my gut feeling. So I paid as fast as I could and got out of there. The whole process only took about ten or fifteen minutes but it seemed a lot longer. It took me a while to shake that nervous feeling. But we did end up at the zoo safely, and had a great time, besides the fact it was really hot.

I probably got ripped off... I think the tires I got are not the best tires, and while they were inexpensive, if they shred themselves soon, they obviously weren't a good purchase.

And hopefully, they weren't stolen tires either. (Hopefully wherever they got them from showed proper identification... right?).

So this is the lesson-- whether you're buying books, tires, or anything else, don't put all your stock on one person's recommendation, because what they are comfortable with and think is a good idea, you might not find to be the case for you at all.