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WOMEN AT WORK
by Shirley Friedman
Car Chaos
............It had to happen on
our first real day of winter in Gauteng. The cold Cape wind had
dropped the temperature from 26% to a maximum of 12%. I woke
with a stiff neck, and I was already late for work because I had
to switch from summer to winter clothing. Leaving the house we
share, my sister Ros and I hurried to our cars under the carport,
and as it was always easier for her to reverse when I had already
left, I pressed my remote to open our electronic gate, started my
car, and turned my neck gingerly to reverse, when I heard a
frantic cry. "Don't go!"
...........I quickly braked,
and opened my window.
..........."Won't your car
start?" I asked, mentally preparing excuses for my late
attendance.
..........."I think I left my
lights on!" she called. "The battery's dead!"
..........."Did you or didn't
you? Was the switch on or off?"
..........."It was on,"
she answered ruefully "We'll have to jump-start it."
...........Now here was a problem.
Not because we didn't have jump cables, that's a lesson we have
learnt through experience, but because our driveway only just
accommodates our two cars side by side, as long as we don't want
to get in or out. I usually park up the driveway, and Ros
parks further down. If I brought my car level to hers, so we
could apply the jump cables, she wouldn't be able to get into her
car, or I wouldn't be able to get out.
...........Problem solved! Ros would
have to do all the dirty work, out in the cold wind, and I would
stay cosy in the car. So I reversed till I was level with her
car, maneouvring close to the right wall to leave more space for
her to squeeze into the driver's door, while she took out her
jump cables, and then opened both bonnets.
..........."Which one goes
where?" she asked, waving the red and black clips in the
air.
........... I couldn't remember, and
I couldn't get out to have a look. I was thinking of scrambling
somehow over the brake and gear lever to the lefthand door,
(which anyone will tell you is a bit daring, and even dangerous
for a woman who isn't 'as sprightly as she used to be', when she
said "There's a plus and a minus sign on the
batteries."
...........I grimaced. Let's apply
logic, I thought. Red and plus must go together - or did they
just seem to go together? I had to decide.
..........."Put the red on the
plus, but see it's the same on both sides."
...........My car was running, so I
held my breath as Ros put the clips on, and then I tentatively
pressed the accelerator, waiting for my engine to die, or explode
or something.
...........Nothing untoward occurred
- phase one successfully accomplished - so Ros ducked under the
cable to get to her car door, eased her way in as there wasn't
much room, and tried to start the car. Then "Oh, I'd better
use the immobiliser thing," she called. No wonder it
wouldn't start!
...........So she did, and I revved
up my engine, as I recalled doing in the past. As I couldn't hear
her engine over the noise, I watched her. After a few long
seconds when nothing seemed to be happening, I saw her face light
up, and I released the pedal.
..........."We did it!" we
yelled simultaneously', and "For goodness sake, don't turn
off the engine!" I called.
...........Cables removed and
bonnets closed, I drove off. Why did red seem to equal plus, I
thought? Is it logic or intuition? Or could it be my son, the
auto-electrician, who had told me? And what would have happened
if I was wrong? It doesn't bear thinking about!
A TECHNICAL ARTICLE ATTACHED TO THIS COULD COVER THE ADVISABILITY OF KEEPING JUMPER CABLES IN THE BOOT OF YOUR CAR, HOW TO USE THEM, WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF IT WERE DONE INCORRECTLY. WE WOULDN'T GET TOO TECHNICAL - JUST ADVISE HOW TO HANDLE THE PROBLEM IN LAYMAN'S LANGUAGE.
You can contact me at : shikey1@aol.com