untrue wheel (sounds like a country song)

[jami]

someone popped the quick release on my wheel at a crowded bike rack. after i put my wheel back on, i tried to get it to stop rubbing the brakes and frame for two days before i noticed that it's just plain bent. i'd like to think that didn't happen at the bike rack -- a couple concerned bikers had pointed out my wobbly wheel in the past, though there was no rubbing before.

i have romantic notions of truing the wheel myself a la "triplets of belleville," but given that cartoon physics don't apply, i'll probably just leave it to the experts. if i bring it in, should i ask them to straighten the wheel, or do i just buy a new one? why one and not the other?