Charlie Daniels of the torque wrench

One of the things that I do in my spare time is volunteer with the high school kids at our church. We call the group 180, and I have a small group of about 10 freshmen guys that I'm connected with. It's really one of the few times in my week that I get to act like a boy, so it's great fun.

Last night we decided as a group to walk over the Taco Bell near the church to hang out a little. While there, the freshmen took the conversation to "The Talk," and if you don't know what I mean then a) you've never been around a high school guy or b) you're not old enough to know, and I'm not going to tell you. Anyway, most of these guys have no volume control and although the conversation was not graphic, the one other guy sharing the dining area with us had to know what was going on at our table, so when he walked over most of my group tried to hide under the table assuming that he was going to reprimand them for the subject matter.

In a surprising turn of events, though, he smiled weakly and asked, "Do you have a torque wrench?"

What? You want to borrow my torque wrench? At Taco Bell?

I politely informed him that I did not have one with me. Assuming that it's polite to talk while trying to stifle a laugh.

At this he responded by describing a torque wrench. Like maybe I wasn't sure what he was talking about, and if he just explained it to me I would say, "Oh, one of those. I've got one right here on my key ring for emergencies."

Again I let him know that I was familiar with the tool, and I was sure that I did not have one.

"You can borrow tools from Auto Zone," he said. Did this guy think I needed a torque wrench? Who started this conversation anyway? I just smiled and said that information would be useful the next time I needed a tool.

"It's getting kind of dark outside. It'll be hard to see what you're working on soon." Where's this guy going with the conversation? Is he trying to ask me to do something for him? Does he think we walked to Taco Bell because our vehicle broke down?

No. Nothing that simple, my friends. "Can you tell me how to get to Auto Zone from here?" All of that just to ask directions. You'd be proud of me for not replying, "In a car," I was trying to set an example for high schoolers after all.