I call Liberty Mutual “The insurance company for Snowflakes.” If you have seen the commercials, they show people in different self-created situations complaining why their insurance company does not treat them like guiltless victims and pardons all mistakes. “I wrecked my car, but I should not be held accountable! Gimme New Car You Bad Insurance Company!” and “Liberty Mutual Has Accident Forgiveness. They are Cool!!” (Of course, they do not mention that they charge you a premium up your rectum for the”kindness” of paying you full price for the car you totaled while doing 150 mph in icy conditions).
But the latest one not only pissed me off royally, but it goes with J. Kb. post about the Avocado Hand. A proud mom is telling us that thanks to Liberty Mutual 24-hour roadside assistance, the fruit of her loins was rescued from dangerous Nowhere land when the car developed a flat tire. And then it shows us two other teens, obviously without Liberty Mutual Insurance, calling dad and trying to figure out the mysterious items in the car that allegedly will repair a flat tire.
Listen, I understand that car today are complicated beasts that probably cannot get started by a simple pairing of batteries and require the vehicle to be towed to be repaired. It is not like old times when you could actually learn a bit of how an engine work and prop it long enough to get back home under your own power. I was an off-roader and it was a point of honor among us to get back home without having to call a tow truck so we carry tools and spare parts to fix anything short of an engine blow. My truck today? I look inside the hood and I can’t figure out what is what so yes, I have road side assistance and have used it.
But a needing stranger’s help for a flat tire? As a “responsible” parent, how in God’s name would you even let you kid drive out without teaching him or her how to change a effing tire? Dear God, I was taught how to change tires years before I was allowed to drive! Hell, you would not depend on the crappy jack that came with the car, but bought a good bottle jack and a couple of wheel chocks or fashioned them out of leftover wood. You also learned where the jack points where to safely raise the card and the rest of the liturgy that came with changing a tire.
And when you got home, you were filthy, your clothes had grease and soot and dirt and maybe even a little rip and same for your arms and hands. You mom or dad or both asked what happened to you to which you simply said “I had a flat.” Next thing would be dad’s smiling with a little pride and mom maybe shedding a little tear because the little boy or girl was no longer there but had grown up and learned to take care of business. Life had thrown you a test, you passed it and a new level of trust was achieved within your family and new responsibilities would be issued to you: Welcome to Adulthood.
But now? Mommy will pay extra so your boo-boo can be fixed remotely by a paid Grease-Nanny and you can come home safely and without a stain in your mommy jeans or a hair out-of-place in you Man Bun.
God forbid you learn how to fend off for yourself.
Another thing that no one seems to pay attention to is that id describes what to do in the owner’s manual. Heaven forbid anyone reading that.
Great timing!
Yesterday I was just teaching my 11 year old daughter the basics of tire changing. She knows more than most snowflakes.
Also insurance is intended for a calamity, not minor mishaps or maintenance. That is one reason health care is a mess. It is not the role of insurance to do these little things so inefficiently.
One more thing, super screw Progressive Insurance. As the name says, they are a snowflake company. If you love freedom, do not give them your business.
This is one of my hot-button areas of interest. I am an instructor for Street Survival (sponsored by Tire Rack and run by the BMW Car Club of America). I usually have two students per event and have had probably 40+ students over the last few years. Maybe only 10% of the kids and maybe only 20% of the parents know how to change a tire (and I define “know how” as actually having done it — I don’t “know how” to bake a cake simply by watching a show, for example), and the vast majority don’t even know how to check tire pressure. It’s the parents’ fault. Before my son got his license, he knew how to change a tire, and guess what — he needed to do it on his first night out when he was hot-dogging and tore up a wheel/tire (which, of course, he had to pay for).
I strongly suggest young drivers do Street Survival. It is far superior to standard driver education in many ways, going far past the standard solution of “don’t drink and drive, wear your seatbelt, don’t speed” (important points, but taught to exclusion of others). We always have a waiting list due to the positive reputation and performance of the program. Nearly all instructors (such as myself) are either amateur racers or pro racers, so we understand vehicle dynamics and teach them properly (this is NOT a racing event, and my only negative rating from a student happened when I wouldn’t let him try drifting).
http://www.streetsurvival.org/
You took the words out of my mouth. We had to learn to change a flat tire in our high school drivers ed.class to pass the course.Liberty Mutual obviously is targeting the Snowflake millennials . They try to leave the impression that only they offer replacement value, no deductible, and road service. Anyone who is still not sponging off their parents knows that most all other insurance companies also offer all these services as long as you are willing to pay sky high premiums. Part of the deception to snowflakes is to leave the false impression that all these policy upgrades are just standard equipment on a Liberty Mutual policy.