We canceled our AAA membership.
OK, not exactly an earth shattering confession, unless you are my father.
As far as I can remember, he has been a member of AAA. I became a member the moment after I became a licensed driver. Putting Hubby up onto my membership came the moment after we married. OK, not the moment after, but it was one of those "to-do" items after returning home from the honeymoon, right along with returning half of our wedding gifts. What is it with Mennonites and not using gift registries?
We have been AAA members ever since, and those first few years of marriage, we USED that membership. The number of times we were towed paid for the membership, for many years to come.
Now, those years are over.
Then we broke my father's number one rule, when it comes to cars. We bought new.
Then we bought another new car.
We haven't been towed since, knock, knock on wood. Though there was that very cold Sunday morning we were, for a short time, stranded at church.
About the time our AAA renewal form arrived, we also received our auto insurance bill. One of the items we pay for is, roadside assistance. $4. AAA membership: $161. You do the math.
But wait, you say, what about those nifty AAA triptiks? Yes, they were nifty. I remember picking one up and watching the AAA assistant use a highlighter, on my map, making the triptik, right there, right then. The good old days.
With Mapquest and Garmin (neither have reimbursed me in any way to say this, though Garmin, if you are reading, Hubby would LOVE lifetime map updates.) we haven't picked up a triptik since ... no idea since when.
There is also the fact that (I think) it is a good one hour drive to the nearest AAA office.
But wait, those free AAA travel books? Yes, they are also nice. However, first, Hubby and I would need to travel in order to take advantage of them, and second, there is the internet.
So, we canceled our AAA membership. And, since my father is laid up after back surgery, he is probably reading this, and I will probably receive an email, or phone call, from him, by the end of the day.
All I can say is sorry Dad. You have imparted many life lessons I still carry to this day. The AAA membership? Well, times have changed.
2 comments:
Hmmm, this gives me inspiration to do the same! Seriously, I don't remember the last time I used AAA. And I'll have to check about our car insurance too. Thanks for the that tip!
After reading this I said to my husband (who shares that same father), "Why do we have a AAA membership?" His response was, "Why wouldn't we?" Yeah, it may be awhile before your dad's lessons wear off of him. :)
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