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Friday, January 24, 2003
Flavier: Cow mechanic
By Juan Flavier
COMMENTARY
THE visitor from the city noticed his car stall when he entered the dirt road leading to the barrio. On third gear, the engine sputtered like it had ran out of fuel. After another few meters, the car stopped completely. Repeated attempts to start the engine produced a horrible grinding sound.
The man got out of his car, opened the hood and scanned the engine though he didn’t have any idea what to do. From his cursory look, he could see no loose hoses or disconnected wires. He wiggled the battery terminals but they were fastened tightly.
As he fiddled with car’s parts, he became conscious of a presence peering over his shoulders. The man was startled to see a cow examining his engine. He decided to leave the cow alone as it was doing no harm.
Try opening the distributor and check the contact point,” mumbled the cow. “It must have been stuck.”
The man could not believe what he heard. But he was too stunned to doubt. So he opened the part the cow’s nose was pointing at. Then he pried apart the piece that appeared stuck. When he turned the ignition, the engine started without trouble and he went on his way. He could not get over what he had just experienced. Why, he had even forgotten to thank the cow.
On his return trip, he decided to stop and make amends. But the cow was nowhere in sight. Instead, there was a farmer at the exact spot where he was stalled earlier that day.
Have you see a cow mechanic around?” the city man asked.
You mean the brown cow with a black streak on her back?” the farmer countered.
Yes! That’s the one. It helped me fix my car.”
Did the cow tell you to check your contact point?”
Yes, it did,” said the visitor with excitement.
That cow says that to everyone whose car breaks down here. The cow is mine.”
But it worked! My car ran like new after I followed the cow’s instructions.”
Oh, that cow knows nothing about cars or engines. It is not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination.”
But why does the cow do that?
The farmer smiled faintly as he replied, “Well that cow is no good at producing milk. So it just poses as a good mechanic.”
(Juan Flavier writes for Sun.Star Baguio)
(January 24, 2003 issue)
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