Vol. 18, No. 38	Aug. 5, 1999

She changed tires and attitudes

The summer I turned 22, I worked for National Tire Warehouse in Wilmington changing tires," Lori Halsey, economics, said. "I took the job because at the time I was seriously considering becoming an Automotive Service Excellence (ASE)-certified mechanic. I had worked in my father's garage helping out for years, so I already knew what I was doing. My dad is a used car salesman.

"I would put the car, truck or van on a lift, pull the wheels off, balance them and put the new tires on the vehicle. I didn't have a set time limit to change the tires; I was just to change the tires as quickly as possible. I ended up with great biceps by the end of that summer, and I learned to be agile enough not to injure my hands or break my nails when I was working.

"It was interesting because my friend and I were the only girls that changed tires," Halsey said. "It was fun to see all the guys constantly biting their tongues afraid they were going to offend us. I like raising eyebrows; it was neat to see customers looking at me and saying, 'Wow, a girl.' People I talked to didn't believe that my job was changing tires. My family was afraid I would get hurt.

"I don't think I would work that type of job again. I still work on my own car; change my own tires, spark plugs and oil, but I would rather be working on computers than cars now. Now I want to become a Microsoft-certified systems engineer more than an ASE-certified mechanic."