So this is what it’s like to get your oil changed when you’re a dude

Argh. This is a little bit frustrating to read. Leaving the gender stuff aside, good shops recommend fluid checks and air filter replacements and battery checks and so on because it's a good idea. A bad air filter won't just hurt your gas mileage and performance, it will destroy your rings, causing your engine to wear out a lot faster and eventually start burning oil, further damaging other components down the line. And for what, to save 20 bucks now and again?

Things leak. A lot of people never realize their car is leaking. They don't get in the habit of crawling under their car and checking to see if their transmission is coated in grimy oil or if their transmission is sweating transmission fluid. They never notice the very slight groaning sound the car makes when turning the steering wheel because the power steering pump is leaky. They see a few drops under the front of their car in the parking lot and assume it's normal or runoff from their AC system when it's actually a radiator or water pump.

If you don't trust your mechanic enough to follow their recommendations, you should get a new mechanic. People -- man or woman -- coming in to a shop and ordering the shop around as if they know cars better than the shop staff are the worst sort of customers.

> An event happened to me once.

> All events occur this way.

So this is what happens when you try to inject sex and gender into every aspect of life.

If you want to really do a good experiment here: go to an oil change place and say "Please drain and refill with Mobil One Synthetic 0W-40 (and filter replacement per spec for your car, specified explicitly and technically), and please put a sample of waste into this Blackstone sample bottle. Thanks.!"

I'm pretty sure technical competence trumps gender. Not that you shouldn't still get treated well without flaunting knowledge, but it seems like a good way to mitigate this fairly pervasive tendency.

I see this at gun stores all the time; woman goes in and is treated as unfortunately expected; reveals that she's a manufacturing FFL and knows the intricacies of both use-of-firearms and various forms of metal treatment in manufacturing, and is treated like an expert.

People will take advantage of others' weaknesses to further their goals. Here they leverage a stereotype that women are more susceptible to take car maintenance advice from a blue collar worker.

As a male one might be shamed into buying more flowers, chocolates, for birthdays, mother's days, etc.

And as a single data point, wipers and air filters are nearly always pushed on me. It's a normal part of my experience visiting an oil change place. The only exception is if i go there in a bad mood. They read that and don't bother you.

Not so sure about that. It really depends on the establishment you go to. If you are a repeat customer then over time they stop trying to do the up-sells. If it is a new place they usually go through the full song and dance. Even guys get the "Are you sure?" treatment, this happens with far more frequency when I am dressed in business attire, happens much less when I am in my knock around attire.

Yes and no. They still do it to some men. I used to get it all the time. And some places are better about it than others. My original dealership was really bad.

What can I say? some people are assholes. Assholes perform well in sales. Sales has to deal directly with customers. And we're all customers of something, so we'll end up running into a lot of sales people in our lives.

I mean, I know nothing about cars. I would welcome the extra offers for air filters, etc. Men just tend to have a different poison than women do. Just because I'm a dude doesn't mean I know shit about my car!

>I'm a car nerd.

Doesn't change own oil or check anything else under the bonnet.

Um, lady, if you're so smart about cars, why are you paying extra for synthetic oil for a Subaru?

I don't know your husband but they always used to scam me with all that junk, too, and I'm a dude.