Have you ever been stuck in a car wash?
Well, it just happened to me!
On my way home from a meeting, I decided to pop in for a quick car wash. Everything was going great until midway through, when I literally started bouncing off the huge truck in front of me! It took me a couple of seconds to realize what was happening–I wasn’t sure why, but he had put on his brakes.
I’ll be honest, at that moment, I wasn’t quite sure what to do.
I decided to put my foot on the brake, pull out my phone, and record a video to post on my personal Facebook with the caption, “What would you do if you got stuck in a car wash?”
Then, I waited until I got rescued. And I laughed because…well, I WAS STUCK in a freakin’ car wash!
I figured they’d get us out eventually—so why stress?
The truth is, getting upset wouldn’t have solved anything.
I’m very intentional about practicing not stressing over things I can’t control–I know it’s not worth wasting my energy.
It is a choice I’ve practiced for many years, and while I’m not always perfect at it, that day…I nailed it!
Turns out that two cars ahead of me was a woman in her 80s who panicked when her car started acting funny, and she left her car–while still on the tracks. Can you imagine how terrified and embarrassed she must have felt?
Thank God I didn’t lose it!
It would have made things worse for me, the car wash employees, and the poor lady who panicked and left her car.
And you know what?
That choice paid off. Not only did I save my peace from being frustrated (or feeling like an ass when I found out about the poor lady), but the manager upgraded my self-service wash to full service, so I got the inside of my car cleaned for free! Woohoo!!!
Sure, I ended up with a tiny booboo on my bumper from playing bumper cars with the truck in front of me, but it wasn’t big enough to stress over. I just asked the manager what she would do to take care of it, and she gave me a free detail to buff and polish my car and make the whole car look pretty! That’s a huge win in my book!
This whole experience reminded me of a simple yet powerful lesson…
We always have a choice in how we respond to our challenges.
Stress, frustration, and anger might feel justified in the moment, but they never fix the problem. In fact, they usually make things worse.
By staying calm, I kept my peace, made someone’s day a little easier, and ended up with a clean car and a funny story to tell.
Oh, and the responses to my video are hilarious! I thought I’d share a couple with you…
- A mom of six said she’d “Take a nap.”
- “I was about to go get mine washed, but this changed my mind.”
- “Play the ‘Car Wash’ song and dance!”
But my favorite responses were the hilarious stories of other people getting stuck in car washes, too!
So, I’ll leave you with this: the next time you find yourself in a frustrating situation you can’t control—whether it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic, getting stuck in a car wash, or something bigger—ask yourself: “Is ‘this’ really worth stealing my energy?” Or can you take a deep breath, choose a new perspective, and maybe even laugh instead?
Who knows? You might end up with a great story to tell and maybe even a little “bonus” for your patience.
