I went up to my stepfather’s shop yesterday, or simply “The Tire Store,” as we call it, to help him while he went to the doctor with my mother. To most people, Madison Tire is just another greasy shop that fixes flats and balances tires — just another small business waiting to get swallowed by the insatiable appetite of Wal-Mart. But to me and the coffee-guzzling, lie-telling regulars, it’s much more than that. It’s where you can hear solutions to the country’s problems, catch up on the latest town gossip, and most of all, talk football — Alabama Football. And you don’t need a flat tire … but you gotta try the coffee. Just go up to the concrete-floor stock room, where it’s always 15 degrees cooler than the office, where you’ll find a tired coffee pot, styrofoam cups, and all the condiments, in the corner. It may not the be the most sanitary pot, but I believe it just adds to the flavor. ‘Cause that machine can make even the cheap stuff — you know, the coffee that comes in the cans you have to open with a can opener — taste better than any Starbucks I’ve ever had. And don’t worry about the coffee being too hot. Like the small-town tire business, the pot’s better days are behind her — she can’t quite brew it as hot as she used to. Just head back down the four stairs to the office when you’re done and step up to the counter — you’ll be laughing and talking politics before you know it. And that’s why people go to Madison Tire.