Fire in the hole

I was just reading the Yarn Harlot blog about the moving guys and the stove (titled: the way things are) and was reminded of a similar story that I like to tell about men's stupidity.

When we were living in NY we had one car between the two of us. It was the Mazda GLC I bought when I was in grad school. After many years of NY city driving, the ol' GLC was starting to have serious problems. When it came time to retire ol' yeller, we decided to drive it to the LDEO campus and leave it in the back parking lot where all the old cars were left to be hijacked by aliens or towed away, whichever came first.

It was a cold and snowy day; not actively snowing but there was slush on the road and driving was tricky. I was driving the old car and M was driving behind me in the new car to make sure I made it up the final hill to campus. I was almost to the top when the car finally gave out and I had to pull over. I got out and saw flames underneath the car. Here is how events unfolded from there:

me: "Hey M, the car is on fire!"

M: "No it isn't"

me: "Yes, it is. I see flames! Get some snow to throw on the engine or something!"

M: "Nah. The car isn't on fire."

me: "But I see flames!"

M: "No you don't."

Guy in a Jeep driving by: "Hey man, your car is on fire!"

M: "Oh man! You're right! Thanks!"

Result: $80 to tow car 500 feet to said parking lot and much scowling on my part. Like I said, men are stupid.