The Gas Hole
About a year ago, I was going to meet my sister, Mindy, at the beach to go sea glass hunting.
Let me stop here to say that, while I have a great relationship with Mindy, we did have a lot of the typical big sister (her) - little sister(me) conflicts growing up so there is an underlying bit of fear factor involved!
So . . . I had to stop to get gas on the way to meet her and, while the gas was pumping, I realized I had money in my wallet that my husband needed and I'd have to go home, which meant I'd be late meeting Mindy. You wouldn't think this would be a problem but I knew she'd be upset because she's always on time - actually, she's usually early - and
knowing she'd be upset made me upset!
I quickly called her and said I'd have to swing by the house to drop off the money and would be a little late. She said, "What!! I'm almost there!! How long will it take you!! I don't want to cancel!! . . . . !!" I said, "Don't worry, I'll get home as fast as I can!" I frantically turned on the car and started to drive, when I realized the gas was still pumping! I could see the hose pull out of the car's gas hole(?) and the gas was still pouring out! I slammed on the brakes and ran to shut off the pump. That's when I found out gas is very slippery! I flew in the air and landed in the puddle of gas - my whole right side was soaked! I managed to get up and turn off the gas. The manager ran out to help me. He said, "Here, let me wash your hands," and proceeded to drizzle dirty water from the windshield squeegee on my hands and then gave me a greasy rag to dry them. That's when I realized I broke my finger!
Did I mention it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and the gas station was packed with witnesses?
I hobbled back to my car and, sitting as much on my left side as I could, started to drive home. I realized Mindy was still on the phone and was very confused about what she was hearing! As I drove home, I explained what happened and that, of course, I wouldn't be able to meet her at the beach. She said, "What?!! I'm almost there!! Come on!! We'll never find another day to do this!! I'll come to your house and wait while you change clothes!! . . . .!! So, that's what happened - I went home and got cleaned up - that's when I found the massive bruise on my leg - and we went sea glass hunting at the beach as planned!
Afternote: It took five washings and a week on the patio to get the gasoline smell out of my favorite sweatshirt!!
Apparently,
it's not just me :-)
