Gum on the Bottom of Shoes

I parked at the Institute building the other day on campus while I ran around distributing fliers for an upcoming 5k I am helping out with. I remember getting back in my car after a 2-hour stint of pinning, taping and running around trying to find out where approved bulletin boards were. Thankfully, I had help and it went a lot faster than I thought.

Upon driving away in my Toyota out of the parking lot, I felt like one of my tires was acting a little wanky. I also observed the klunk klunk klunk sound coming from the front of my car. I surely thought that it was a flat tire, which I have been privy to in many a recent past. I pulled into the median because there was not a shoulder. While it may not have been the safest place, I knew I could at least get out and examine the damage. Upon checking all of my tires, I was bewildered to see that they were all fully inflated. I wasn't really sure what was going on, so I looked a little closer. To my astonishment, my front right tire had a huge "platform" of tar stuck to it. I started laughing. I had never seen anything like it before...ever. I recalled that the parking lot just had its cracks filled ..but the tar was not fresh or anything and couldn't possibly have a disastrous affect on little ole tires, right?

What does one do with tar stuck to their tires? I sure didn't know. Could I have picked it off myself? If not, should I have taken it in to a tire shop? That almost seemed too easy. I decided to drive to a safer location. Upon my drive....it was just too much for me to handle. My steering wheel shook, which made my Relief Society arms shake (made me realize how much I should lift weights), and it felt like my tire was coming off. I didn't get very far until I pulled over to the side of the road and started picking tar off with my ice scraper. But then I had this thought that "one day it will snow, there will be ice on my windows, and I will have forgotten that I used the scraper to get tar off a tire and I would scratch my windows." So, I started using my hands. I didn't get very far before the heat of the day got to me, and I hopped in my car and drove home.

Who would have thought that having tar on a tire is very much like having gum stuck on the bottom of your shoe?