February 2019

A ccording to our son, the university student, “April is the cruellest month.” I He learned that so-called fact from a poem he is studying this term. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but whoever wrote that line clearly never cut their hands up working on a car, outside, in February. In fact, the sheer wrongness of that sentiment can be found written in scars on my sheared knuckles. I bet a fair few readers of Aftermarket could cite a similar message from their various body parts. Did you know by the time he finishes he will have taken out nearly £30,000 in loans to learn this claptrap? Should’ve got him on the tools early. No, that’s unfair. According to said son, whose academic achievements we are very proud of I should hasten to add, the chap who came up with that nonsense also wrote the musical ‘Cats’ (I think I got that right) so he can’t be all bad. Mrs P and I enjoy a musical in the West End once in a while. When I think about his choices, I should probably not be too surprised. Despite the fact that Mrs P and I have built a thriving business with the garage, and have the material benefits to show for it, I was probably reinforcing the idea that the academic career was preferable for most of his life, particularly in the winter. More often than not, I would come home after a day working in winter months, and complain about how cold it was, and what particular finger I had nearly sliced off in the course of my normal working day. Year after year, I would experience the same things, and talk about it at home. There he was, taking it all in. Combine that with the general lean towards the academic that you find in schools, and you end up with me looking beyond my first-born to pass the business on when I come to retire. He’ll be off doing something clever with screens. Of course, given a few different choices, he could be here, with me, doing something clever with screens. We have screens-aplenty at Parkit Motors, what with the diagnostic tools, and the garage management system, and everything else. Plus he is my son, and as a result he knows his way around a car. Plus, I don’t like to go on about it but a degree is not worth what it once was – time was you’d doff your cap to someone with a catskin of that calibre. Not today, there’s too many people with them. It’s like inflation. You print more money, and the money’s worth less. He’ll do well though. He’s MY son! As an industry, we could do more to sell the positives that we can offer as a sector. With all the change that’s coming with EVs and hybrids and all that, I think it is all going to become much more hi-tech anyway. They like all that, the youngsters. Just don’t tell them about the cold February days. With regards to the poem, I rather like April in the garage as it happens, except for the years when we get a snowy Easter. Brrrrrr! Then you will find me wishing it was still February. ARTHUR’S A POET AND HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IT 66 AFTERMARKET FEBRUARY 2019 TEABREAK: MEMOIRS OF A MOTOR MECHANIC www.aftermarketonline.net