By Darlene Jones
Scene One:
Brand new Nissan Xterra encounters a sharp piece of re-bar at a Mexican construction site. Bad news for the Nissan as re-bar wins first round puncturing the side wall of the front passenger side tire. Nissan owner takes tire to closest LLANTERA. There are many to choose from, tires suffering a high mortality rate on the roads of Mexico. Owner watches repair process which seems to involve melting rubber with electricity. Tire subsequently holds air. Owner puts repaired tire in vehicle as the spare.
Scene Two:
Owner and spouse of Nissan pull into Thoroughbred Nissan dealership (Tuscon, Arizona) and request a new vehicle service check. To save a delay in the drive from Mexico to Canada, the service manager obligingly squeezes said XTerra into his day, even though owner has no appointment. Owner requests a new tire be installed on the front and that existing tire be used as spare and that spare be tossed.
Scene Three:
After a leisurely stroll in Tuscon, owner and spouse return to dealership. Young man at counter says spare is just fine. Owner says no, it’s not. Young man, says, but sir, we found nothing at all wrong with the spare. Owner says, you don’t understand. The tire was vulcanized and is not road worthy. Young man, calls service manager (also young) who reconfirms that tire is just fine and assures owner he needn’t spend $300 for new tire. Owner repeats that tire was vulcanized and insists on buying new tire. Youngsters stare at owner, likely searching for Spock like ears under baseball cap.
Scene Four:
Elderly chap enters service office area. You remember when tires were vulcanized, owner asks elderly chap. Elderly chap nods and repeats that tire is useless after vulcanizing. Looks on young men’s faces say, Oh Lord, they’ve beamed down two of them!
Scene Five:
Owner and spouse drive away with new tire on Nissan (which manager kindly reduced to $175). What’s vulcanizing? spouse asks. You know says owner. I’m much too young to know about these things, says spouse, but I may have heard my dad use the word once. Ha! says owner.
Editor’s note: Darlene Jones divides her time between Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada and the Jaltemba Bay area of Nayarit, Mexico. She says:
I spend most of my time writing, reading, and of course body boarding when I’m in Guayabitos. We’ve been coming to Mexico every year since 1990 and first stayed with Bob Howell in Guayabitos and now have our own place. I LOVE my granddaughter, chocolate, and the views of the ocean from my desk.
You can read other stories on Darlene’s blog and buy her book, Embattled.
Spanish Lesson:
llanta – tire – pronounced YAN-ta. The dictionary also says it is a metal rim but the most common usage locally is tire. It applies to tires on bicycles and wheel barrows too.
llantera – tire shop
ponchada – punctured – from the verb
ponchar – to puncture – in Mexico but apparently in other areas tires pincha
pinchar – to burst but also to prick as in cactus
mi bicicleta tiene una llanta ponchada – my bike has a punctured tire
puedes arreglar – can you fix (it)
Plants pincha (prick) but bugs pica (bite)
dogs muerde (bite) as do traffic cops when they try to extract the mordida (bribe) — both from the verb
morder – to bite
You are a braver lady than I am to explore the meanings of pinchar. Your piece reminds me of signs I see across the fronts of garage doors in some cities, warning people not to block the driveway: Se ponchen llantas gratis (Tires punched for free). All I did to the guy(?) who blocked my driveway was to write (with my very best lipstick) POR QUE? across his windshield.