Fix It Or Quit It
The other day, after driving 6 hours, I went to open the driver side car door only to realize I was trapped inside. I pulled on the handle several times but somehow it got caught mid-way through opening. I pulled and shook it but the door wouldn't budge. I then had to roll down the window, reach my hand around, and open it from the outside.
The driver's door handle is just one of many things in this car to stop working. When my husband purchased it, used, about 7 years ago, it already had a back window that rolled up much slower than the rest. Since then, the transmission has been worked on, we took it in for a recall, the backup alarm and cross-detection sensors have stopped working, the AC blower fan had to be fixed, the battery has died twice, and the windshield wipers that have been replaced at least once now have started to skip a swipe. Not to mention the regular maintenance like oil, headlights, brake pads and rotors.
After all that, you can image how hard we laughed when the door suddenly wouldn't open. We had been debating on getting a new car for a while, but kept putting it off because it still got us from A to B. So when that handle broke and we debated once again between fixing and buying, we wondered how many little things would have to break before we finally decided that all the little things were too big. In other words, when is it time to move on and when do you keep trying to fix it? I think it's safe to say that if you are rolling down the driver side window so you can open the door from the outside, then maybe it's time to move on. Then again, it could be an easy repair that gives us another few years.
I thought about how similar our car situation is to the turnover tsunami that is happening in businesses right now. So many people I have talked to are jumping ship because they have reached a point of burn out. For some, there was one big thing that pushed them over the edge. For others, it is just all the little things that have added up to a pretty unpleasant ride and at a certain point, the investment just isn't worth it anymore and it's time to invest in something else.
When we finally get another car, it won't be perfect just like a new job will never be perfect. It will take investment and effort. But just because perfection doesn’t' exist, it doesn’t' mean life can't get just a little bit better.
So if that's you right now… If you're trying to decide between fixing and leaving, try to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Is it really just the handle? Or has it finally added up to too much? If the investment is still worth it, then maybe stick it out. Or if you feel like you're just throwing resources at a problem that will never go away, maybe it's time to shop around.
