Well, I'll run out of gas before I pay $2.15 a gallon.....

muttered my dad today as we passed the gas station - which was about 4 miles prior to us running out of gas - about 1 mile before the next gas station. In the 97 degree heat. After we had been working carrying heavy antique furniture out of a consignment store and loading it onto a trailer for 5 hours.

Now he swears he was just kidding. He swears he really thought we could make it. He was wrong. So we sat by the side of the road waiting for Nana to come bring us gas . Not only did I not leave Nana the keys to my van, but dad had taken the only set of keys to Nana's bright yellow Thunderbird convertible he bought her last year for a surprise 50th birthday gift. Did I ever mention my stepmom is only 7 years older than me? We have some funky age differences in my family, but it really works well for us.

And of course we were in Daddy's nice truck, so Nana had to come to our rescue, bringing the kids in the old farm truck. Which has no key. And has a screwdriver broken off in the ignition. (Don't ask) And to start it is a multi-step process involving connecting wires, throwing switches, pushing buttons and praying. So we waited in the heat for the gas. Then we drove down the road where dad gladly paid $2.19 a gallon for gas.

What was perhaps the best part of this - if indeed there can be a best part, is that I had just listened to him go on and on about how people couldn't live without their cell phones, because I had just gotten several calls in a row. So as we chug to the side of the road, he turns with a grin to request I use my handy cell phone to call for help and aren't they great!

But I'm a believer that if a story is going to be funny in a few years (and we won't let him live this one down), then you might as well laugh now. So even as I type this, I'm smiling at the memory of his face when he really realized we were in fact running out of gas.



Originally posted 6/29/05