Readers won't believe what a blighted life I have led ... the opportunities missed ... the educational events neglected ... the everyday experiences bypassed. So it should come as no surprise that I had never been through an automatic car wash. Until last Thursday.
But there I was, in a friend's pick-up, staring ahead at the blue octopus arms and the bristles hiding at the rear.
Reading the many instructions.
Whoosh. A preliminary swipe of soap across the windshield. By a human, no less.
About to enter the realm of the blue octopus.
Into the maw.
Finally the big brushes at the sides get into the act.
A final rinse ...
And a big sign that says
thank you for our business. And one less experience that I have missed in my long life.
Readers won't believe what a blighted life I have led ... the opportunities missed ... the educational events neglected ... the everyday experiences bypassed. So it should come as no surprise that I had never been through an automatic car wash. Until last Thursday.
But there I was, in a friend's pick-up, staring ahead at the blue octopus arms and the bristles hiding at the rear.
Reading the many instructions.
Whoosh. A preliminary swipe of soap across the windshield. By a human, no less.
About to enter the realm of the blue octopus.
Into the maw.
Finally the big brushes at the sides get into the act.
A final rinse ...
And a big sign that says thank you for our business. And one less experience that I have missed in my long life.
Going through the Automatic Car Wash is one of the great small joys of life, Granny J.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you got to experience it.
I do feel cleaner after reading this post.
ReplyDeleteIt can be quite surreal in those washing machines.
ReplyDeleteOnce, a friend of ours forgot to put his car in park, & since it was in drive, it was 'panel beaten as it rushed through the process, to end up crossing a busy road, & crashing into a private fence!
Now this is a true adventure story! It had an "Orpheus in the Underworld" flavor to it. I'm glad you safely emerged "on the other side."
ReplyDeleteThat looks just plain scary! :) Glad you made it through, and with great pictures to boot.
ReplyDeleteI see children's book potential in this post... "and the octopus with thousands of blue tentacles slowly swallowed up granny and her car..." Fun.
ReplyDeletemark.
k -- welcome back! Oh, yes, it was absolutely fascinating. LH & I always left the car dusty, as we had no uptight places to visit.
ReplyDeletesteve -- and so you are!
meggie -- now that was a proper adventure...
boonie -- BTW, I didn't look back.
tombo -- I'll bet it's an everyday experience that has never (oh, well, almost never) been documented.
mark -- not without a fight from granny, I'll have you know.
I had never considered the potential of photographing the "inside" of a car wash before.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the experience.
Whenever I have used my local wash I always end up going home and re-washing the car to catch the parts the wash missed - so I have stopped using them.
avus -- looking back on the experience, I'm sure I could make it a lot scarier!
ReplyDeleteI too, feel damp! I think the first time I had this experience was with your dad, my GP! FNFM
ReplyDeleteFNFM -- I don't think I could stand the experience if it happened in the humid 2/3 of the country. That's one great advantage of "it's a dry climate."
ReplyDeleteOne of the great joys of my childhood. Shared after a long gap with my spouse, as we sit in our own car, and giggle inside the artificial, sudsy, hurricane.
ReplyDeletezhoen -- I fear my late husband would have scoffed at a trip through the car wash as fruitless, as we would be driving through quite the usual amount of dust the very next day. It does look a bit like some sort of amusement park ride, doesn't it. A cheap ride, at that, as it is so short.
ReplyDelete