Some Thoughts On Auto Repair Shops

One of the unpleasant surprises about moving to Atlanta was the discovery that the car registration laws are so ridiculous. I've been to the DMV to get a new Georgia driver's license, and the next step in registering my car was to get a mandatory emissions test.

Now, my jeep has more than 200,000 miles on it, and to make a long story short, I failed the emissions test five times before I gave up and took my car to the dealership repair. Theres only a small window of time (19 days) between getting your license and registering your car, so after all the attempts at passing emissions (which included driving over 100 miles to no avail), I had to go to the dealership on a week day.

The jeep dealership was way out in Alpharetta, and when I got there, I was told the repair would take at least a few hours. So, I was faced with the prospect of either twiddling my thumbs for another "few hours" or finding something to do. After a long walk to a nail salon, I had a thought, and I still think it's pretty valid. Car repair places should have stuff to do there. Below, you'll find a list of my suggestions.

1. A News Stand:
          Airports have news stands with snacks, drinks, books, and magazines, and I've been spending more time in auto repair shops lately than I have been in airport terminals, so this seems like a logical conclusion. Patrons could buy books and magazines and read them while they wait.

2. A Coffee Shop:
          I'm pretty sure anywhere people have to wait, a coffee shop will thrive.

3. A Nail Salon:
          This would really make me want to get my car fixed on a regular basis. If there were manicures at Astoria prices in car repair place, the whole experience would be much less stressful

4. Chair Massages:
          This could also be an excellent money maker for the auto repair shop. They could either have a masseuse on staff, or they could just offer a spot to masseuses who would like to rent it. Again, very relaxing.

5. A Box of Kittens:
          Again, if this were always available (always kittens - no grown cats) at the auto shop, I'm fairly sure we would soon see people tampering with their own vehicles or getting unnecessary repairs just so they could play with some kittens for a little while.

So, auto repair shops, get to it! The three miles I had to walk for my manicure were good exercise, but you could have profited from my having to wait!