The Oil Change Ego Trip

No matter how hard you try to convince them otherwise, some people insist on doing everything themselves. They want to paint their own homes, change their own floor tiles and repair their own engines. The issue isn't that they want to work alone, without assistance. The problem comes in, however, when they actually don't possess the skills and training necessary to do the job correctly. For some, it's not even about trying to save money, but it's all about protecting their egos.

Rob and Ronny were brothers who decided to move in together after college. One day, they were sitting in their apartment having a discussion.

"I really don't know if I can handle too much more of this woman bro," said Rob. "She's always going through my phone and she calls me like 20 times a day. Look that's her calling right now."

Ronny couldn't help but to laugh.

"I'm sorry to laugh, but this is hilarious," said Ronny. "I told you she was bad news to begin with."

"Whatever, anyway I'm about to go and get an oil change," said Rob as he headed for the door. "So, I will see you later."

"You're going to do what?" asked Ronny. "I know you're not going to give those people your money for something you can do yourself. If you want I can do it."

Rob stood at the door for a second trying to rethink his decision.

"So, you mean you actually do your own oil change?" asked Rob.

"Well, I just got the car Rob," said Ronny. "But, you better believe when it's time for one I'll do it. You know I've been on this do-it-yourself kick."

"Yeah, you've been messing everything up," said Rob as he started again for the door. "So, I think I'll pass and leave it to a professional."

"You're making a big mistake Rob," said Ronny.

After getting in his car, driving down the road and thinking about what his brother had said, Rob decided to turn the car around and let his brother do the work. Besides, it couldn't be that hard of a task, he thought.

Two hours passed before Ronny was actually finished with the oil change.

"What took you so long," asked Rob.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was right," said Ronny. "The reason those auto shops are so quick is because they don't really care about your car and they just want to rush you out of there. Because I took my time, I'm pretty sure everything is functioning properly."

After about a week, Rob seemed to be pretty pleased with the oil change, until one day he saw a leak under his car. He decided to take it to a mechanic to get it checked out. After the diagnosis, he quickly called his brother.

"Ronny, you nitwit," he said. "You didn't do my oil change right at all. You put in the wrong filter and all of the oil leaked out."