Auto Parts

The right-hand rear turn signal went out on the Saturn. So after work, The Wife and I drove to the nearest auto parts store, which was the Napa store in Fountain City, on the corner of Broadway and Essary (next to Litton’s, the most overrated hamburger place on Earth).

Upon arriving at the store at 6:20 p.m., we found it closed. To the right is a picture of the posted hours of operation of this auto parts store. Who, exactly, are their customers? Stay-at-home housewives? Don’t they think that people work for a living from eight to six? Do they expect that everyone will be able to get out of work and run to the auto parts store, or get into the store precisely when it opens, buy their part in two minutes, and drive off to work?

Fortunately, Napa’s competitor, AutoTrak, was open just down the street until 10:00 p.m. and able to provide us with service. But I’m beginning to think that the intersection of Broadway and Essary is the very epicenter of struggling, beginning with the design of the intersection, including the ick-burgers at Littons, the three untimed signal lights in a 100′ distance, the limited hours of service at the auto parts store, the gas-station-that-is-not-a-casino, and concluding with the people who fish in Fountain City Park’s fountain-fed goose pond.