Doing the Dub Scrub – No Prep at the Car Wash

Just like many people, especially this time of year, I’m visiting the car wash on a regular basis. I like to keep my truck as clean as possible, at least until the next round of pollen covers it again. I’ve been to the car wash a bunch, but I never considered what it meant to work at one - until now. This week’s No Prep found me, as the song says, “workin’ at the car wash.” 

We are at the height of “the pollening” here in the CSRA. That meant the line at Moby’s Car Wash in North Augusta was pretty long. It also meant that as soon as I got to Moby’s, it was game on. Brannon Graybill, one of the owners, gave me an official Moby’s hat, shirt, and jacket to wear and it was off to the races. He told me I would start by taking people’s car wash orders at the touch screen and introduced me to Jay Young, who would be training me.  

Young showed me how to operate the touch screen, how to insert cash, and how to handle card payments. 

"If a 16-year-old can operate this thing, I think you’ll be fine,” he told me.  

Will I? Will I be fine? Hopefully.  

Most of the people coming through were already Moby’s members, so they just pulled up, the machine read their license plate, and they rolled on in to the car wash. I didn’t have to do anything except smile and wave. Occasionally, however, there would be a person there for a one-time wash.  

Time to shine, Dub.  

I would greet them and ask which wash they wanted. Of course, I would try to upsell them on a membership. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful and didn’t sell one. Then I took their cash or card and asked if they needed a copy of their receipt. 

I got in a pretty good rhythm with this, and if there was any down time, Young brought me detailing towels to unfold and stack. Once I had been on the pay station for a while, it was time to move to my next task. 

Brush boy. 

So, you know when you enter the car wash, there’s someone who washes your windshield and back glass, as well as your front and back bumper.  

That was me. 

There I was, in that dark tunnel, trying to keep up with the pace of the cars coming through. The line at Moby’s never slowed down, so I was brushing and scrubbing like crazy. In fact, I think I got going a little too quickly at one point and missed a spot. Graybill was quick to point it out.  

Rookie mistake.  

One thing that Graybill told me, and I tried to be mindful of, was watching where I was standing while I was doing the brushing. These cars were always moving and he – kindly – wanted to ensure one didn’t run over my foot. I’ll be honest, there was still more than one occasion where I found my foot a little too close to a set of tires. 

I definitely got a workout doing the brush scrub. It was a chilly morning, but I had broken a sweat. After a while, Graybill and Young had seen enough and asked me to hand my brush back over to the professionals.  

Just like that, my time at Moby’s was over. However, before I left, Graybill asked me to go and check with some of the customers to make sure they were satisfied with their wash and to make sure they had everything they needed. Customer service is very important at Moby’s. 

I’ve always had respect for the people who work at the car wash, and now I have an even deeper appreciation. They are a hardworking group of people. I have to say thanks to Brannon Graybill, Jay Young, and the staff at Moby’s for helping me, because I definitely had No Prep.