Prior to the view from my portal, every second of my day had been planned. Now I had a new plan. Fix the flat. I kissed Elizabeth goodbye and bid her a wonderful day. As she drove off in her Saab, I thought about how she'd saved me the night before -- rescued me from traveler's hell. The least I could do was change her tire. (Also, considering I had no transportation without the loaner, I'd best fix the flat.)

I called AAA. After all, that's what membership is all about. Why spend the time and energy to crank up the jack and spin the wrench . . . that's what we pay them for, isn't it? The young lady dispatched the call with due diligence. "Name? Membership number? Address . . ." She asked which tire was flat. I told her it was the square one. Within the hour a tow truck arrived.

Meet Fred. Fred was the tow truck guy. Three hundred pounds if an ounce. A scruffy little goatee, and "contractor's dungarees"-- you know, when they squat down to work, you've been mooned. To complete the picture, he was missing at least half of his upper right central. Fred stepped out of the tow truck and immediately assessed the situation. "Want me to tow you to Sears?" I told Fred I'd prefer he just put on the spare. Elizabeth had her preferred body shop, and I thought it best to let them deal with repair versus replacement. I just wanted the tire changed so I could go about my day. Fred agreed to change the tire. I headed back inside hoping to salvage the remainder of the morning. Fred could handle this. Couldn't he?

Not long after I got settled inside, Fred rapped on the door. "Can't change the tire."

"Why not?"

"Can't get to the spare. Nut's rusted on the carrier lug. Frozen solid. If I try to turn it any further, I'll bust the lug right off."

"So?"

"So, we can get to the spare, but then your carrier arm'll be dragging along the ground."

"So, worst case, you break the carrier lug, change the tire, and wire the arm up to that strut."

Fred had all the answers. "Where am I gonna find wire?"

Here's the beauty of a home office. "I've got every kind of wire you'd like."

"Don't you think we're making a project out of this?" Fred clearly had his heart set on a quick tow to Sears, without getting his hands dirty.

I reached Elizabeth on her cell phone. This executive decision was beyond me. I'll admit I did kind of guide her, though. "The AAA guy says he'll break the carrier lug if he turns it any further. Then he'll have to wire it up until you get it fixed."

Elizabeth had the same thought I did. "So? Then I go to my shop and have them fix the lug. They're going to have to do that anyway -- regardless of whether he breaks it now, or they break it then." She really had a grip on the situation. Problem was, she hadn't met Fred!

"Ya, but . . ." (Fred's listening to the conversation) "I think it might be less of a project if he just tows it to Sears." Later that day, Elizabeth told me she caught on that Fred must be listening, since I was making very little sense!

Fred won. I hopped into the tow truck. Fred hitched us up and off we went. To Sears. I was mildly annoyed that he'd refused to change the tire. However, that was history. Time to make the best of my ride with Fred. So I decided to break the silence with some small talk. Being the astute judge of character that makes a successful dentist (we have no right), I figured I'd find some way to "connect" (read "bond") with Fred.

I looked around the cab of his truck. "So, you really have a lot of buttons, lights and radios here. It looks like a command center."

"Ya, it is pretty cool, isn't it?" Fred was beaming.

"Sure. This is just like a police cruiser." I had him. We were deep in conversation. Hailey had taught me, "MMFI". "Make Me Feel Important." If we could make each patient feel better about themselves when they're with us then surely they'd want to be with us more often. I was "bonding."

Having made such progress, it was time to move deeper into conversation. I had his number now. "You know, Fred, it's the least I can do to take care of this tire for Elizabeth. After all, last night she rescued me from travelers' hell. I was speaking in West Palm Beach and the return flights got screwed up. Turns out they had equipment problems in Atlanta. They said there was no way they could get me home last night! Elizabeth drove from Boston down to the Hartford airport, and picked me up!"

"Ya, that happens a lot. What airline was it?" Now Fred's bonding too.

"Delta. You fly much, Fred?"

"Sure, lots."

Is he kidding? "Really. How come you fly so much?"

"Business."

Right. "What business is that?"

"Oh, I work for 3Com during the week. I just do this on the weekends, for extra money to pay back school."

Taken aback . . . "Really. What do you do for 3Com?"

"I'm a network engineer and consultant. I fly to job sites, in advance. Mostly Fortune 500 corporations. I'll design the network -- then they'll send lower level engineers to do the install. On the big jobs, I'll go back out once the network is in place, to do the fine tuning."

"Really" (slumping down further and further into my seat.) "What school are you paying back?"

"MIT."

We have no right to prejudge others. Period. Whether in daily life, or in the course of our practice. I'd made some gross errors in prejudging Fred. I assumed that he was lazy, somewhat illiterate, and certainly not well informed. I also assumed that his "Dental I.Q." was pretty darned low. After all, not caring about your front tooth seemed to fit what I thought was the rest of the picture.

The rest of the ride was fascinating. It turned from flat tires and flashing tow-truck lights, to CAD-CAM and virtual environments. Fred told me a story of his classmates (prankster MIT engineering grads) who'd recently been arrested by the FBI. They accessed the FBI's home page and altered several of the agency's photos. Fred not only knew the pranksters, he knew the FBI's investigators who solved the case, fingering his buddies. They too were fellow MIT grads!

I'd recently read the biography of an MIT Physicist, named Feinman. Fred knew all about Dr. Feinman. Once we got rolling I really wished that Sears was further away. I don't think I've enjoyed a more fascinating new acquaintance in a very long time.