Running On Empty

Last week I stopped at a gas station, as it had become readily apparent to me that the day could not be considered successful if coffee and Junior Mints weren’t purchased and consumed. As I was walking across the parking lot, a middle-aged woman, who had parked her car at one of the gas pumps, flagged me down. Naturally, since I now live in the big city, I was suspicious of treachery and foul play. Still, being a rather nice, yet somewhat naïve man, I walked over to her anyway, while all the while trying to recall some fairly cool moves from one of the action-adventure movies I've watched in case it turned out they would be needed.

It turns out they weren’t. This lady was completely confused. She had a rental car, and it very well could have been the first automobile she had ever driven. She had a foreign accent that I couldn’t place, although I can say it wasn’t British or Australian, not that it helps in any sort of significant manner. Anyway, she needed major amounts of assistance.

First, she couldn’t figure out how to pop open the door to exposes the gas cap. Being a natural automobile guru who knows everything about them, except how to fix them or how they work, I managed to point her to the lever inside the car which would give her access to the gas cap.

Case closed, good deed done, right? Nope.

Next I had to take off the gas cap for her. Seriously. Then she didn’t know how to do pay-at-the-pump. She literally gave me her credit card and let me swipe it for her and press the appropriate buttons. (I decided she didn’t need a car wash, as I didn’t want to cause her head to explode.)

Finally, we got the point where she began fueling the car on her own, and she released me from my duties. She thanked me profusely and I walked into the gas station, still not believing what had just happened. I was half expecting the car to come barreling through the wall at any moment, where she would then get out and try to purchase a candy bar, which would be hard to accomplish since she would have run over the cashier. I was still shaking my head when I walked back out, and I saw her drive away. Surprisingly, the gas pump nozzle was not still attached to the car, and everything else looked okay. I took a sip of my coffee and went about my business, still slightly bemused.

So, somewhere out there in this world is an incredibly nice lady who I’m still kind of worried about. Who was she? Where was she going? Does she know what stop signs are? But I guess there’s really nothing I can do about it but wish her the best. Except for, of course, hoping she doesn’t begin to run low on gas again.