Before I tell the story, two facts in my defense:
- A huge rain and wind storm blew through Washington this afternoon that downed trees and knocked out power throughout Arlington...including all of the gas stations in my neighborhood that I tried to go to.
- I have an electronic gas gauge in my car and it told me I had 25 miles to go until I was completely out of gas.
There are the facts. Here are the other facts:
Chappy and I decided to run to District Taco for a quick dinner and, on our way, I told her that I'd need to stop to fill up my car. As we were barrelling down George Mason Dr., my car started to sputter a bit, so I told Jill we'd be getting gas BEFORE dinner, not after. No such luck. Right at the intersection of Lee Highway and Geo. Mason, my car DIED. Totally and completely died. CRAP!
I was in the right turn lane, so...."You're welcome!" to all of the drivers lined up behind me trying to turn right! What a nightmare! Of course, Jill and I couldn't push the car by ourselves out of the way, but thank heaven above a man was walking down the sidewalk and he came over and helped me push it into a bank parking lot on the corner. Phew! Once I was out of the direct line of traffic, I started to breath normally again!
This man had certainly done enough to help us, but then he offered to take us to a gas station! Woot! Woot! I gave a passing thought to our safety and decided that Jill and I could take him - he was 50+years old and probably 145 lbs. wet! Into the Honda we jumped, and bless him, he waited for us at the gas station while I bought a gas tank and gas and then he drove us back to my car and made sure we had bought enough to get my car started again!
Thank goodness for Jack the lifeguard! He had just finished working a shift at the local community pool and he more than did his good samaritan duties for the week! What would have taken Jill and I at least an hour, ended up being a 15 minute delay. While I felt like a total moron, I do have in my defense points #1 and #2 above!
