Jump directly to the Content

Turn It the Other Way

I nearly lost my religion one day while trying to change a flat tire. I readily confess to being mechanically challenged, but even I can usually change a flat.

This particular day, however, I couldn't get the lugs off the wheel. I grunted. I groaned. I pushed. I pulled. I beat on the lug wrench with a hammer. But the lugs wouldn't give. Finally I gave up, left the tire unchanged, and stalked into the house, defeated.

Later that day, I vented my frustration to a friend on the phone. "Try turning the lugs the other way," he said offhandedly. Now that, I thought, was a stupid suggestion. Lugs and nuts always tighten when turned clockwise and loosen when turned counterclockwise. Every shade-tree mechanic knows that.

Desperate, however, I gave it a try clockwise. Wonder of wonders, it budged! So did the others. In a matter of moments, I had the flat tire off and the spare mounted. I never would have thought to "tighten" the lugnuts in order to loosen them unless my friend had suggested it. I just ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

From the Magazine
Empty Streets to the Empty Grave
Empty Streets to the Empty Grave
While reporting in Israel, photographer Michael Winters captures an unusually vacant experience at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close