A Slice classic

Here’s one from Feb. 13, 2001.

A woman came into an Alton’s Tire Center with an unusual request.

It seems a pregnant co-worker was craving the smell of new tires. Could they help her?

Alton’s employee Harold Garwood went into action. He selected a couple of high performance radials and took them to the pregnant woman’s office, not far away on East Sprague.

While she was away from her desk, the tires were placed near her work station. And when she got back, she got to take a nice long whiff of the scent she had been yearning to smell.

The tires remained there by her desk and computer for several weeks. Last week, Garwood replaced them with a fresh pair.

Now Garwood doesn’t pretend to be a connoisseur of new-tire smell. He doesn’t tout the piquant aroma of a certain 20,000-mile all-seasons number or extoll the heady nose experience offered by an unassuming little sidewall.

“I’m around it so much, I don’t notice it,” he said.

But he does know something about public relations.

As for the pregnant woman, well, she’s got a few weeks to go. And as long as she wants to be able to sniff new tires, Garwood intends to keep her supplied.

Maybe she should name the baby Traction or Steel Belt.