Ukrainian Expertise

Since arriving in Ukraine I have consciously tried to see the high points of the culture.  Knowing how easy it would be to compare everything here to what I am used to in the US, this was my way of trying to avoid an "Amero-centric" outlook.  In this, I have had a hard time finding an area in which Ukrainians do things in a better, more efficient way, but yesterday I bore witness to just this.  Prior to visiting tire stores here, I would have expected the exercise to look much like the photo below.

However, yesterday we took the camp Chevy over to a place to swap the studded snow tires for the regular set.  I pulled up to Авто Дом expecting to wait our turn in the office and was promptly chastised by Andrey for not pulling in straight next to the vehicle being service out front.  I remedied this and before I was even out, Andrey had spoken a few words with a service tech and they were already starting to floor-jack the car.  The 2-man team quickly had the wheels off one side and while one changed the tires on the rims, the other finished pulling the wheels from the other side.  As each newly-mounted summer tire was completed, it was replaced on the vehicle.  All of this was smooth as silk despite being done manually (without pneumatic tools or floor lifts).  We stepped into the salesroom to look at the $100-apiece sedan tires and by the time we finished, the car was essentially done.  The work was done well and quickly and we didn't need to wait for the office guys to put someone on the task.  The garage guys were free so they started as soon as we arrived.  An altogether pleasant experience...

And who says NASCAR is uniquely American?  They obviously are doing some sort of pit crew training.