The Joy's of Having a Mechanic Named Bruce

I am convinced that mechanics all over the world must all be alike. It takes a special type of person to get their hands dirty day after day and constantly fix machines that the rest of us try our bests to run into the ground. No matter the race, language, or time zone, a mechanic is a mechanic.

Which is exactly why I love my mechanic Bruce. First of all, his name is Bruce which is quite possibly the best mechanics name in all the land. Second, he is the stereotypical mechanic you would think of, but Asian. In a culture that is lacking in machoness, Bruce is all that is man. I know several male coworkers who love to go visit him just because they think he is a cool guy.

And most importantly, Bruce is a straight shooter and will not cheat you on parts or labor costs (since he doesn't charge anything labor, it would be pretty tough to!). I can go get my oil changed from Bruce (like I just did, hence the raving blog post you are reading) and he will tell me if my tires need to be changed or just pumped up with air. He will tell me I'm an idiot for waiting so long to get my oil changed and then he will tell me if I need to replace the brakes or not. Last time I did need to replace my brakes, and good old Bruce put in used ones to save me some money...which I hope is safe.

My favorite part about seeing Bruce for my oil change however, is the departure. I will generally smile and tell him thank you and all I get in response is a slight nod of the head and a somewhat dismissive hand wave. Mechanics are lovable, gruff characters. Even in Taiwan.