I was driving to Louisiana for my son’s graduation from Louisiana Tech. I pulled off to have a pit stop. My car started going really slow. The engine light started blinking. I pulled off and parked a bit down from the gas station. When I went inside I asked the cashier what the exit number was for that location because I figured I was going to call AAA. She told me and I went to my car and placed the call to AAA.

I was in a time crunch. I needed to get to Ruston in time to take my son out for dinner because tomorrow was going to be all about his graduation. The lady on the phone said that it may be a couple of hours till someone could come by. I didn’t have much choice so I said “Okay.”

Well the guy came within a half hour but he was a towing service. My car was still running, just not very well. He said he was not a mechanic and could do nothing to help me if my car was running. He said I needed to take the car in somewhere where they could run a code.

So I called my son. He said I should drive it to a shop. I told him to google a dealership which was in the vicinity. There was one in Shreveport. So I started driving again, praying all the way to Shreveport. My car would not go above 60 mph and I was on a 70 mph highway so I put my hazard lights on. The car would lurch every now and then and I feared for my life.

I finally got to the Kia dealership and talked to a very sweet lady. She said they would run a code on my car. My maltese was with me so we went to the sitting area and waited.

It wasn’t too long before the sweet lady came back and said, “You need a new engine.”

Gads my car wasn’t even three years old. I said, “Well it is still under warranty.”

She said they would replace it for free even if it wasn’t under warranty because there was recall on my engine. It may take more than a month to get my car fixed though because everyone that had a 2015 0r 2016 KIA OPTIMA was needing a new engine. So they were going to get me a rental car for that amount of time and when it was done I was going to have an opportunity to visit Shreveport again.

Then she put the frosting on the cake. “And when you get the new engine it will have a lifetime warranty!”

Okay, now I am thinking this crisis turned out pretty good for me.

I haven’t always been good at crisis management but I think I could do a mini webinar on it now.

First of all when you have a crisis examine all of your options.

My options were AAA, an auto shop and the dealership.

AAA did not work for this situation and I didn’t want to take it to an auto shop so the dealership became my favored option.

Second, remain calm. I am not beyond becoming hysterical at times but since I have resigned from nursing those times are few and far between. Since I am now in control of my life I can remain calm. When I had to explain to the AAA lady about ten times where I was located, I did it with respect for her. When I talked to the lady at the dealership I was also very nice. I could have thrown a temper tantrum that my car was three years old and had to get a whole new engine but I didn’t. It wasn’t her fault.

Third, express gratitude. I told the lady at the dealership thank you quite a few times because she really was a gem. Then as I drove out of the parking lot in my rental car I thanked God that I had not been killed in a car crash for not only was my car engine dying but there had been blinding rain for 50% of the trip.

Now I just have to be patient because I love my KIA OPTIMA. I am sad that I have to be without it but if it gets a new engine I think our partnership will be a long lasting one.