The Times Are Changing

I went out to the garage to start my Jeep. I hadn't driven it for two weeks. When the engine started, I heard a noise that sounded like a dry bearing. It wasn't the first time I had heard that noise, so I decided to drive to the auto shop and have it checked out. 

The mechanic raised the hood with the engine running. I leaned forward and listened carefully to each side of the front of the engine, and I determined that the culprit was probably the serpentine belt tensioner. The guys in the shop did their own diagnosis and they came to the same conclusion. So I told them to replace the tensioner. They wanted to replace the belt, too, so I told them to go ahead and replace both. The job didn't take long, but they had to wait for the parts to be delivered to the shop. I was there for maybe 90 minutes. The bill was $417.

Was I overcharged? I figure the belt cost about $30 (not to them, of course, but to me) and the tensioner cost about $90, for a total of $120. Then, I assumed $200/hour overhead in their garage, I was there for 60 to 90 minutes (I'm estimating), so the overhead would be maybe $300. Add the $120 for parts and the total is $420. That's pretty close to the $417 bill. 

I'm okay with that.

The men who own and operate the shop are cousins and they're from Palestine. While I was sitting in the shop's waiting room, another man came in. I engaged him in coversation and I noticed he had an accent. So I asked him where he was from and he said, "Guatemala." I told him that my lady friend is from Costa Rica. The conversation meandered for a while. I told him about a friend of mine who ran factories in Honduras. But the factories have moved to the Far East now — Malaysia, I think, in search of ever lower wages. My neighbors across the street are from Guatemala. I began to wonder if this man in the auto shop was one of my neighbors. I don't know those neighbors. I know the Egyptian man who lives next door to me. I never talk with him because it is very difficult for me to understand what he is saying. He has a very thick accent. But he understands me without apparent difficulty.

I used to eat at a nearby Chinese restaurant, until Covid closed it. They had a very good buffet and the food was inexpensive. At lunch hour, the restaurant was filled with Mexican laborers, probably roofers and such. I live in a small city in the middle of Virginia, so I wouldn't expect to run into so many international visitors. Yet I do.

The times are changing. Some Americans don't like the changes they see. But change is inevitable. I find it interesting. Change bothers some older folks, but kids growing up today will think it's just normal and natural to live in a land that is filled with new immigrants and strange accents. 

And I'm okay with that.