Decoding the Ploy

If you've been reading my blog, you might remember how excited I got when I fixed my car a few months back.  I'm again in that place of elation of having conquered the car issue avoiding the minimum $100 dealership charge to decipher the error code, and then additional charges to correct that the problem that only their reader can correct.

I was thinking as I was researching online the error code the kind guy at Midas gave me but that his code reader couldn't decipher, that this code setup in our modern cars is like the decoder rings our youth.  If you didn't have the right decoder ring from your box of Captain Crunch, well, you were going to have eat another box of Captain Crunch and hope that the right ring was in that box to get your message.  A crafty ploy to get us to eat more cereal to decode silly messages.

The kind Midas guy said the code I had meant my vehicle skid control wasn't working in my car because one of the sensors shut down on one of the wheels, and it was something only the Toyota decoder could address.  Enter the internet.  Thankfully, numerous other crafty people have had the same error and were also kind enough to put instructions out that empowered me to fix the scenario with a wire and a little brain power.  The official instructions said you needed several special Toyota "decoder" parts.  The internet said a standard jump wire you could get at any auto parts store would work.  It was basic.  Follow instructions, utilize wire to send a message, and if it didn't work the first time, try again.

Well it worked.  And cost me all of $3.12 for the jump wire.  I decoded the ploy.  I am proud of my effort.

As a side note, when I walked in to our local auto parts store and asked for the jump wire, the guy took to me the jumper cables.  I repeated that I needed wire, not cables.  He asked me in a condescending tone what I'd need those for.  When I rattled off that I needed the wire to perform a zero rate calibration of the yaw rate sensor, the other worker jabbed him by saying, "she did ask for jump wire, not jumper cables."

So often judgments are made based on our race, our gender, our orientation, our disability, or any number of factors.

Where in your life do you need to take the time to decode the ploy?

And, where in your life are you making judgments that are getting your way??