Neither Dad nor I learned German in school, we both took Spanish. We did, however, have a friend who learned German and he taught us one phrase, "Was ist los mit dem Bus" - What is wrong with the bus? The answer was, "Reifenpanne" - flat tire. For some reason this has stuck with us and every few yeas it will come out in conversation, maybe when we think of our friend or something. We have, however, never used it in it's proper context.
Yesterday we had some people visiting and as we were standing the drive way saying good bye I looked over at the back car tire and there was a big bolt, complete with washer, sticking out of it. I looked over at Dad and said "reifenpanne" and he said "was ist los mit dem bus." I pointed at the tire and he understood. Instead of being upset that we had a flat tire, I was so excited that we had actually been able to use our one German phrase!
End of the story is also a first for us. Of course, these thing happen on the weekend when the repair place is closed. Our other vehicle is a truck that seats three so it is important that we have the car working or we can't go anywhere. Dad ran into a fleet store quick, got a tire repair kit and we fixed it ourselves. It was super easy, took about three minutes, and we were able to get to church on time last night. It is still inflated this morning so we must have done it right.
It's funny how the random things we remember so often come in handy. :)
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