By JODI RALL
In the Bubble columnist

(Workin' at the) car wash. Workin' at the car wash yeah! Come on and sing it with me car wash. Get with the feelin' y'all car wash yeah.

I am showing my age by quoting the lyrics to Rose Royce’s 1976 disco hit. But I’ve been humming them to myself ever since I started working on this column. And now, of course, I can’t get them out of my head.

Make no mistake, though. The type of car wash referred to in the song isn’t the kind you see over on Bakers Bridge Road. Miles Auto Spa was described as the “Neiman Marcus of car washes” in a national publication not long ago. Wow, that’s pretty fancy.

 Did you know while you wait you can sit inside and drink a cold one or grab a cup of coffee?

My Ken doll likes to wash his own car. He, one, finds it relaxing and two, thinks he has to do it all himself. Hire someone? No way.

What Ken does not know is that I’ve been keeping a dirty little secret about my trips to Miles Auto Spa but it has nothing to do with keeping a clean car. The car wash is a ruse for me to get my shopping fix.

Tucked inside is the store, Retail Therapy. And it’s therapy of my favorite kind as owner Michelle Roberson has amazing taste. For four years she has been purchasing just the right merchandise to attract both men and women.

“When I met Miles Johnson, the owner of Miles Auto Spa, he was looking for someone to sell things, giving customers something to look at while they wait. We struck up an amazing friendship and business partnership…all on a handshake,” Michelle shared.

While Miles has shared that his original vision did not include dresses, hats, rain-boots, picture frames, baby gifts, jewelry and more, he is a wise business man. Obviously he now realizes if we girls do not get our shopping therapy, a revolt might happen!

"I love that I can always walk into Retail Therapy and find that perfect gift that is wonderful and unique at all different price points. The problem is I never leave without buying something for myself,” Terri Schoenwald, a loyal shopper, shared with me.

For Michelle, the customers are more than loyal shoppers; they are friends. For me, one of the things I love about the shop is that there is always something new and I see somebody I know. Just last week my daughter who was home from college went with me. Our ‘quick trip’ turned into a long visit with Michelle and customers as we all searched for our perfect find.

One of my favorite stories that Michelle shared with me is about a woman who came in looking for the perfect necklace to wear to an awards show. She ended up buying the biggest bling-adorned cross “statement piece” you ever saw.

Michelle offered the woman a little fashion advice. “You might want to go ‘easy’ on the outfit because the necklace is so large,” she remembers saying.

After the awards show, the women came back in the store to see Michelle.  Here’s what she told her: “I received so many compliments and told so many people that I bought it at the car wash that by the end of the night, it became known as the ‘car wash cross.’”

I’m with her. Though not everyone who receives a compliment on something from the store likes to share where it came from, I proudly say “I got it at the car wash!” Of course, my girlfriends would say, “Yes, but we know you would brag on an outfit from the flea market.”

It’s all in the presentation, baby.

But here’s another reason I like Michelle so much. She has helped women purchase hats to help ease them through the transition of losing their hair from chemotherapy. It has been laughter therapy for many good girlfriends and simply put, isn’t that what life is all about?

Now, a true car wash story that a certain family member reminded me to share…

Once there was a little boy who hated car washes. His mother took him with her to a Shell carwash located near their home. She assured the little boy, “It will be fine, son. Don’t be afraid.”

The mom put down the window of the minivan, put her coins in and proceeded into the wash. The jets began. The boy began to cry. The mother’s window would not go up and so water was now spraying wildly through the car. The boys’ tears then turned to giggles as his mother was now a drenched rat.

The moral of this story is never let your Ken doll fix something as important as a car window before you go to a car wash.

See why I need a little ‘therapy?’