4/14/08 Stopped for a tank of gas today. Over at the next pump a man was fueling up his big Suburban. He appeared to be in some distress. I finished pumping up the Toyota and said to the man “You know, it’s really bad when it costs $33 to fill up a Corolla” and, without hesitating even a beat, as if he was completely prepared for what I had just said, he looked up and said, “Buddy, why don’t you just shut up?” There was a tense moment there until he flashed a smile at me and shrugged and said “sorry.” I told him, no, I deserved that one.
4/30/08 Fueled up today in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A woman, maybe in her mid 50’s was at the next pump and was holding her credit card and just staring at the pump. Just kind of pointing at the pump and moving her pointing finger in big, loose circle. She looks over and says, “I’ve never done this before.” So, I make sure my gas is flowing and step over to help her. She hands me her credit card. Asks me if she has to have a special card or is her Visa ok. I put it in the slot for her and then tell her you have to pull it out quickly. She fumbles but pulls it out ok. I hesitate and she waits. I pull out the nozzle and ask if she wants Regular and she asks me if I could recommend one of the choices. I tell her Regular is cheaper and is just fine in almost all cars. She asks for Regular and waits. I hand her the nozzle and tell her I’d be glad to assist her if she needs more help. I go back to my car and look and she’s managed to get the nozzle into the correct place in her car, but she’s just watching the pump. I go back and show her that you that you have to squeeze the lever back against the handle and show her how she can watch how much she’s putting in both in dollars and gallons. I go back to my car and think to tell her not to worry–the pump would shut off automatically when the tank is full. She finishes up with no apparent problems. Later I realize she’s left her receipt in the pump. No harm done.
Driving away, I had a brief moment of panic. Did I just get scammed? Did she pick my pocket? and I actually patted my butt and found my wallet. No scam.
How do we get to 2008 and this perfectly normal looking woman has never pumped her own gas? What’s the back story? Husband suddenly gone? By death or by mid-life crisis? Did the last full-service station in Tuscaloosa, Alabama close down last week? It’ll shut off by itself, I had said to her, when it’s full. You don’t have to worry about that.
I felt something like the beginning of tears as I thought about it, driving away. I’m 52. This is the age where a lot of American men start crying more. And I think about my own father in his 50s. He had always been so stoic, trying to keep the lid on all that WWII stuff. But once I was a young adult, I’d go home for a weekend or a week off, and he’d stand in the driveway as I pulled out to leave and he’d quickly turn away, overcome. Moving quickly back to the house in hopes I couldn’t see his tears.
Google maps was a huge help. I guess I’m a little map dyslexic, because roadmaps look like a bewildering tangle to me, just a blur of information. But with the Google satellite maps, you can zoom in and out to whatever degree of detail you want. When I was learning to drive to the community college, I got the general route down, and then “drove it” many times with the Google map zoomed in as close as I could get. “Turn here. Change lanes here.” I had to study the route for 2 hrs. before I finally “got it”.
