I was thinking about brake jobs.
I didn’t want to think about it, but I didn’t have a choice. I was running with a client at the time.
I asked her if she could put in a few more miles. She said she couldn’t.
She had to pick up her car from the service station.
“Isn’t your car new?” I asked.
“Yeah, but it needed brakes,” she said.
It only had 22,000 miles. My brakes made it 65,000.
Then, without me asking, she replied, “It wasn’t cheap… $1,800.”
She said they had to change the pads and the rotors.
I became more confused. Pads and rotors on a brand new $100,000 Range Rover?
Seems like those should go a lot longer than my $30,000 Toyota.
I explained that most cars don’t need new rotors or pads at that point. Plus, it should have cost about $300.
She explained to me that “I didn’t get it.” These European cars have special needs, and require special care.
I let it go for the moment. But, because of who I am, I couldn’t let it go completely.
When I got to my car, I called Sammy. He’s the Persian guy who owns the Shell station close to my house.
He did my brake job for $200 just a couple of weeks ago.
“Sammy, if my friend brings in her $100,000 Range Rover and put genuine parts on it, what would it cost?” I asked.
He looked it up, and told me “It would be $400 out the door, boss.”
Don’t you love when someone calls you boss when you’re not their boss? Are they being condescending or sounding hip? I’m never sure. But I digress.
I told you that to tell you this.
Isn’t it funny how we get indoctrinated to believe certain things?
We go to places like Whole Foods because we’re told that the food is just a little bit more organic. The beef is just a little more grassfed. The range that the chicken roam free on are just a little bigger and happier.
Another example is when we buy vitamins. I always talk about how a multivitamin is a good idea.
A lot of times we don’t stop at that. We talk about how certain vitamins are better for us.
Some people tell us that mold-free coffee is better for us. Hell, I never knew mine had mold. Sometimes it has chicory, but mold?
If it does have mold, I’ve been drinking mold my whole life. Maybe this mold is good for me?
The point is, we all want to be healthy and do the right thing. Sometimes, we get stuck on the wrong things. We want to be too perfect.
I do lots of phone consults. When people get on the phone with me, they almost seem to get nervous because they don’t want to do the wrong thing. They wonder if they are doing the right thing.
First, I tell most people to take a deep breath. Being healthy ain’t rocket science. If it seems too good to be true, you can bet your ass it is.
