Caution: Read Manual before Operating

My wife and I purchased a new vehicle last fall. It was slightly used, but better than any car we've owned before.
From cruise control and automatic windows to the weather channel on the radio and seat warmers, this car featured almost everything we could imagine needing between point A and point B.

Like many red-blooded American men would have done, I immediately jumped in the car for a drive around the city. I could figure out all the fancy gadgets while cruising down the interstate. No need to wait!

Everything was great until about three weeks ago...

I notice when I tried to wash the windshield with wiper fluid the only thing that happened was the swish of the wiper blades. I tried a second time. A third. The same result.

This was horrible! How could this be! Was the honeymoon over after only a few months? Did I need to make my first repair?

"Wait. Calm down," I thought. "There has to be an easy solution."

I popped the hood and checked the fluid. Ah, the problem. No fluid.

Close the hood. Crank the engine and zoom to the nearest Auto Zone.

Grab Wiper Fluid. Go to the counter. Swipe the debit card.

Pop the hood. Fill the canister with wiper fluid. Close the hood.

Get in the car. Press the lever in. The wiper blades went swish. No fluid.

Argh!

I delayed making the call to the dealer. Maybe it wasn't a necessary feature. I tried convincing myself I could live without wiper fluid. But I eventually broke down and scheduled an appointment with the dealer.

The following Friday at 8:30 a.m. I arrived at the dealership and waited in the lobby for my technician.

Ten minutes later, my technician arrived after making an initial inspection of the car.

"Mr. Forrester, I couldn't find anything wrong with the wiper fluid," he said.

"Really," I said incredulously. "It hasn't worked for me in weeks."

We walked to the car. The technician entered the car, pressed the lever inward. The wipers went swish. Jets of fluid sprayed onto the windshield from outlets on the hood.

"No, no," I said. "It doesn't work for me. See."

I crawled into the driver seat and pressed the lever in.

This time the wipers swished but no jets of fluid shot out of the hood.

"See what I mean," I turned to the technician and said.

"Push harder," said the technician.

Sure enough after pushing a little harder the wipers went swish and fluid sprayed onto the windshield.

Needless to say, I felt a little bit foolish and couldn't help but laugh at myself.

"I bet this will be the easiest repair of the day," I said.

The technician and I both enjoyed the moment briefly before I left the repair shop.

I immediately called my wife to explain what the problem had been.

"That's why they mailed you a manual for you to read," she said.

So from here on I have two options: buy a less fancy vehicle in the future, or read the manual before operating.