I’m a MAN

This post is about MANLINESS … and humiliation … and taking help like a man.

Yesterday I ran over something big on the interstate early in the morning while it was still dark. (It turned out to have been a black, full-size bicycle!) We were on the way to my daughter’s volleyball game—the only one I was able to make this season.

It was cold, it was snowing, we both wore sandals (not expecting to be outside for more than a few minutes), and my wife and I looked at each other with a frustrated sigh, knowing that this is just part of The Ruck. Our front left tire had blown.

I hadn’t figured out YET how to the get the spare tire off my old minivan before a very manly friend came along to help. (See how I phrased that? I would have figured it out in a few more minutes. That’s what I emphasized to my wife afterwards.)

He popped open a secret hatch and lowered it with a few turns of the lug wrench. Our wives watched in amazement from the warmth of their car. My own wife opened the door to yell, “Hooray, Trevor, I knew you would be able to do it!”

I had just spent 10 minutes lying on my back hammering at the wrong piece, cussing and losing my mind. When Trevor arrived, I was on YouTube trying to figure out how to release the f$&king spare.

Together WE got the spare in place and hobbled the van to a parking lot. (He took over tire-changing operations as soon as he got there and didn’t need my help, but I kept butting in to turn lug nuts and crank the lift. Because I’m a man. And I can handle it from here.)

Before we joined our wives, I swore him to secrecy with the promise of a six pack. Then Melinda and I drove with them to the volleyball game.

That’s when it happened.

We saw another very manly friend. And the first thing Melinda says, in true Melinda fashion with exuberance and emphasis on all the wrong things, is: “Israel couldn’t figure out how to get the spare tire off! Good thing Trevor came along!”

INSTANT HUMILIATION.

Because I’m a MAN. And because I have a BEARD and often put my hair in a MAN BUN. That makes me particularly sensitive in this situation. I’m now the subject of memes that my manly friends post on Facebook making fun of guys with beards and man buns who don’t know how to change a tire.

Since she outed me, I’m outing myself to all of you in case it helps you in some way.

BOTTOM LINE: Sometimes we need to eat a little humble pie. Sometimes we need to give our manly friends an ego boost. And at ALL times, we need to be humble enough to receive help with open hands from people who are sent our way to get us to where we need to go in life. We aren’t built to do life on our own. Never let pain or pride isolate us from the people we need around us.

One other thing: learn to laugh when your wife tells all your unmanly secrets to the world.