Some Assembly Required
Santa’s helpers at Bayside Chevrolet take the fear out of these dreaded words
by Helena Mann-Melnitchenko
Years ago when life was simpler, Dad spent the night before Christmas in the garage or basement assembling toys. Alas, lives and toys have become more complicated. Instructions come in four languages and are difficult to understand in any.
Printed in small letters on a large box are the words, Some Assembly Required. On a dark December night, these words strike fear in mechanically challenged dads and moms. Will they have to wrestle with bits and pieces of wood, metal and wires late into the night? And grandparents? Forget it. If only they could ask Allie or Katie to help them out. The kids, who have been born into this Electronic Age, are much more competent in these matters.
Relax. Help is as close as Prince Frederick. For more than 10 years, auto mechanics at Bayside Chevrolet, Buick, Toyota have been helping stressed-out parents.
“This is our way of giving back to the community. The higher degree of technology has made assembling toys more difficult,” said service director Kevin Murray. Any parent who has wrestled with a bicycle with 15 speeds and bells and whistles would agree.
Mechanics understand the sophisticated electronic systems of today’s cars. For them, assembling toys is a snap. Yet even they face challenges. One of the toughest toys they assembled was a girl’s dollhouse that came in hundreds of pieces. But you can bet that was one happy girl on Christmas morning.
Mechanically challenged parents and grandparents can drop off toys at the Service Department at the dealership in Prince Frederick. For more information, call Kevin Murray at 410-535-1500.
“We’ll be more than happy to do the job,” Murray said, “free of charge, of course.”
