I recently met with some of my peers in the publishing industry, and the subject of a good, quick and inexpensive lunch came up. As I listened to my contemporaries drop the names of their favorite eateries, I contemplated whether or not I should offer my two cents. Of course, I was familiar with many of the places that were being bandied about, but none of them were on my good, quick and inexpensive list.

I decided to speak my piece and blurted out, “Speedway has two chicken sandwiches and a drink for under $3!” From the silence in the room, you would have thought I had just landed from another planet! Once everyone was able to speak again, the comments ranged from, “You have to be kidding” to “I would never eat at a gas station,” implying that a gas station is some greasy, dirty place unfit for culinary experiences.

But what kind of a generalization is that? I just so happen to remember dropping my wrench to go put $5 of gas in Miss McGillicutty’s car, check under the hood and wash the windshield whenever she pulled into the “gas station.” In case my peers hadn’t noticed, that stereotype of a gas station being the last place you would go to grab some grub has been gone for about three decades. Our modern-day fuel centers are clean, bright and offer their customers everything from convenience items to individually prepared food offerings, many of which can be quite tasty, if I may say so myself.

So, where am I going with all of this? Well, just like the room full of my peers should take notice of shifts in automotive trends, I think we all need to sit up, observe and acknowledge the advances in our business. Our collision repair space experiences advancements and new technologies on a yearly basis. Our ability to take a mangled, twisted mess of a car and return it to its original state is nothing short of astounding – forget the fact that most of you are doing this with no firsthand knowledge of how the original was built or the technology behind its design. In addition, no two hits are the same. Frankly, in my eyes, it’s more of an art form than it is a repair.

I think others need to realize that without us and our cousins in the service repair industry, this great ol’ nation of ours doesn’t keep on rolling. Every crashed vehicle or one of the millions that has been in an accident is either fixed by one of us or it doesn’t exist anymore. Our industry is what keeps the automotive industry on the road, and without our two capabilities, the personal transportation model that this nation is built on would not continue.

So to those of you out there who are willing to admit that you’ve eaten in a place that also provides fuel for automobiles, let’s keep this great nation moving.