In the last few weeks, I have experienced something I haven’t done in decades…going to a self-car wash. You should be proud, I have now washed my wife’s car twice and my truck once. It has been quite an experience. (For you experienced car washers, try not to laugh too loud.) The first time I entered the car wash, I was fortunate to have my son-in-law with me. He taught me car wash etiquette. Number one on the list is to make sure you do not cut in line and face your car the correct way. Easy you say. But there were multiple lines and different feats that could be performed on your car. Of course car washing was the number one draw but then there was vacuuming. Vacuuming opens a whole can of worms. Should you vacuum before or after you wash your car? There are different lines for each. What about wiping down your car after you wash it? What do you use? There are so many choices.

Once you are in the car wash, there are so many new problems with which to deal. How do you pay for it? After help from my son-in-law, I deposited a five dollar bill in the machine. Now what? Do you pre-soak, wash, or use the brush thing? To shorten the story I washed, rinsed, and waxed in about 5 minutes leaving a small fortune for the next guy. And by the way, the drive home did just fine drying off the car.

The first car wash was in Tennessee. Yesterday was in New Jersey on a Saturday (The first nice day in about 4 months). The first time I went to this place I learned the ropes about getting change and how to work the machine. This did not prepare me for Saturday. The pros were out. This was like a car wash tournament. I knew I was in trouble when the guy in front of me drove a Ford Mustang. Mustang owners…well let’s just say they are proud of their cars. When he finally got up to bat or should I say wash, I watched as he took the brush and soaped the car. He must have had $100 because this wasn’t Tennessee. All around proud owners of their rides soaped, presoaked, washed, rinsed, waxed, dried, vacuumed, and things I don’t understand yet. I even saw this colorful soap. What is that?

Finally my turn came up. I only had $4.00. So when I turned the thing on, I washed, rinsed, and waxed with $4.00 and time to spare. I jumped in my car and drove off to the disapproving looks from the pros. My technique was wrong, but I didn’t care. (More to come next time) Pastor Bob