Hey, Your Shoe is Untied (Really, it is)

I like to think I can get through the day without falling for some kind of scam.

I’ve never emailed my banking information to the crown prince of Nigeria so he can send me my $40-million windfall.

I’ve never fallen for the extended vehicle warranty telemarketing scam.

Nor have I bought any kitchen knives or flashlights from a TV ad where they give you two for the price of one.

But I have been duped a couple of times along the way.

I’m not talking about getting fooled into going snipe hunting. We’ve all fallen for that one.

You have, too. Right?

And I’m not talking about getting tricked by one of those old April Fools’ Day pranks some people love to play. 

But I’ve played the fool a few times over the years. Two examples always come to mind.

My first car was a 1982 Buick Regal. I got it before my freshman year of college. 

I loved that car. It was light gray with electric windows, a cassette player and white-letter tires.

For some reason, after I had owned it a while, I got the idea in my head it needed a tire rotation and a front-end alignment. I took it to a garage owned by an acquaintance I thought I could trust.

When I got the car back, it still pulled to the right just about like it did before I took it.

I went back and told him the situation.

And he stood right there, looked me in the eye and told me a car is supposed to pull to the right to make sure it doesn’t drift into oncoming traffic if I fall asleep at the wheel.

Since I trusted him, I bought the story and left — while checking myself in the mirror to see if I looked especially sleepy.

A car is supposed to run straight down the road. All of my other cars have run straight down the road for the most part.

To this day, I’m still pretty sure he rotated the tires and simply pretended to align the front-end.

The second experience involved my first push mower.

I have complained before about how much I dislike mowing the yard. It’s not the work. It’s just that there always seems to be something more important that needs doing.

One day while I was mowing during that first season, I hit something with the blade. I don’t remember what it was.

Anyway, it threw the blade out of balance. And my diagnosis of the problem led me to believe I had bent the shaft the blade attaches to.

I took it to some hole-in-the-wall repair shop.

The guy took a look at it and assured me he could straighten the shaft.

The following year I took off the blade to have it sharpened. That’s when I saw a shear pin which breaks when the blade hits something to keep from damaging the shaft.

All the guy did was replace the pin.

That one stung a long time.

So be careful out there. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel. And check reviews before using a lawnmower repair shop.

And if you’ve never been snipe hunting, it’s a blast.

Trust me.