The Glass Man Made A Big Impression

Looking for new experiences and cleaner air, I left my home state with good intentions. There is nothing like moving to make you appreciate any relationships you had at home. Even seemingly impersonal relationships like where I shopped were lacking. The zero waste store was nowhere to be found in the new city I moved to. I believe I had established a good reputation with my old bosses and even landlords.

A few months into a new city that I had not planned to stay in, my window was broken. Nothing was stolen, just vandalism. I thought it would be easy enough to fix. Wrong.

I made multiple appointments, weeks apart only to get told we can’t fix it. We don’t have that window. We do have that window but when they got to the car and had a look at the window, they actually don’t have the window. I called many glass shops. I called back my car insurance company multiple times. They were not much help. One time I asked for a manager, was told I would be called back and no phone call was received. They set me up with multiple appointment failures. I asked for advice from the insurance. I asked for advice from friends. I posted on social media. I bought a piece of plexiglass and thought I would cut it and glue it in myself. It was impossible to cut.

Some important observations to note during this process: because of believing I needed to get the window fixed I felt I had to give my personal information out. I gave my car vin out, my location, my name, make and model. I started to see that a problem like this might just be a great waste of your time. When you have precious time to work on this, you have to consider if you should drive to the pick n pull and try to find a window there. (the car junk yard.) I was YouTubing videos considering if I even had the ability to safely pull the window out of another car.

I wondered if I was trying hard enough. Did I call all the glass shops? After another round of that and getting told they didn’t have it and they don’t make them anymore, I knew that I definitely was trying hard enough.

After one particular interaction where I was asked to measure the window and took an afternoon to do that and answer the person’s questions, it became very clear this was a waste of my time. I was still hopeful because I was afraid any doubt in my mind could effect the outcome. My suspicions were justified when they didn’t get back to me, at all.

I even had to move because I needed a carport or a garage in order to protect the inside of the van from getting damaged. Leaving the city for another one seemed like a bad idea and my travel plans were put on hold.

I actually stopped worrying about it and pretty much gave up. It was weird having that conversation with people that would tell me ‘Why isn’t your window fixed?’ ‘Just get it fixed.’

Months passed. Just over a year later, I went to a local car shop who gave me a tip. I followed one tip and they were very helpful but couldn’t fix it. When I called the other tip, I got the okay to bring the car down. The guy cleaned my window out, measured it with another window and cut the glass in front of me in a matter of minutes. I knew I was dealing with a professional and I was very hopeful. He told me because of the shape of the car, the window has to be bent when putting it in and could still break but he will try. He will try. Music to my ears.

It was clear he was a master. He worked quickly. He and his coworker/partner put the new window in and it stuck. I felt huge relief. He didn’t realize what it meant to me to have someone help me. I really gave up on it. I was beaming with joy.

I prepared a thank you and took it back to the shop. He wasn’t there but a new person was. I left the bag of goodies with a thank you card. Now I am sure he was a ghost. Something I have learned in life is no one has to help you, but when they do that is something to hold on to.