What do you call someone who knows absolutely nothing about cars? You call them… well, me. At least, you do if you are me, which presumably you’re not, but you know what I mean. Regardless, it’s just come to my attention that I’m extremely reliant on auto specialists to make my car go.
As much as this is basically normal (the greater part of the world’s population not being motor vehicle experts), it still stings me a bit. That’s because I pride myself on my intellectual self-sufficiency, which I’ve honed to a point that it covers most areas of my life. I mean, that’s the impression I’ve somehow arrived at, and it’s started to unravel ever since it occurred to me that I have no idea about anything to do with auto work.
I’m clueless about all of it, from changing a tyre to auto electrical. Brighton mechanics seem to know all of it, and it’s making me feel extremely uncertain. I thought I was the local authority on just about everything, but this falls outside the domain of my knowledge.
Look, I get that I’m being a bit weird about this, but I’m going through a weird time. Since turning 18 a couple of months ago, my status as a gifted polymath seems to be disintegrating before my eyes. It’s making me think that perhaps the people in my life have been overly forthcoming with praise for my abilities, which clearly aren’t as all-encompassing as I’ve been led to believe.
In my defense, this is the first time ever I’ve had reason to book car servicing. Brighton service centres probably operate in much the same way as those in other places, and the mechanics that work there probably have roughly the standard amount of knowledge for someone doing their job. Similarly, I probably have the standard amount of knowledge for an 18 year old who has been raised on intensive book-learning.
That doesn’t mean I feel good about this, though.