I'm no girl

This enrty has little to do with being a mom, and yet everything to do with being a grown woman.
By this time in our lives, we moms have learned a lot. We run a home, some of us work, and we juggle doctors, dentists, school activities and everything else to keep our lives running. So why is it that mechanics automatically assume we're dumb as rocks when it comes to our cars?
I don't know about you, but when I was 10, my dad bought an old clunker for like, $50, and he dragged me under it through the engine restoration. Don't know what he sold it for, but that was my first (but not last) encounter with a timing belt. When I was 17 and bought my first car, I was smart enough to ask for the repair records and actually read them before I took it to a mechanic the first time. So when he came out with a list of $1,200 in repairs (including a new timing belt and water pump), I could intelligently say, "no, it's had this, this, this and that. But go ahead with this, this and that." That mechanic quickly reassessed the girl in front of him and we had a good working relationship through my second vehicle, as well.
But I took my car to Dr. Transmission on Russell Parkway last week. I had gotten a transmission error code on a diagnostic and my husband bought a new celuanoid. We took it to the shop to have it put in because it was a bigger job than we had time for at home. "Yep," said the mechanic. "And on this transmission we always replace the ETC, too." So we let him do the job.
Of course, when we got the car back and the problem wasn't fixed, his story changed. "Well, I told you you had a problem with the engine misfiring," he drawled. "Y'all knew this job wouldn't fix the drivability problem."
What?!?! Believe me, I had no such conversation. And don't look at me like I just forgot, or misunderstood. I may be a woman, but I'm no girl.
--Misty