Out of gas (but not out of luck)

                                                                                                                                by wayne osborn

            Yes, I knew I was low on gas.  The fuel gauge had seemingly been on “E” for a couple of days.

 Later.  I’ll get gas later.

            Driving past the umpteenth gas station I’d seen in the past 24 hours, I thought about turning in and purchasing some petrol.

 Later.  I’ll do it later.

            As the friendly lights of the AM/PM faded away in my rear view mirror, a curious thing happened…the truck started to sputter.  Imagine that!  I was losing power quick.  Idling at the next stop light, I noticed that I wasn’t  idling.  Huh, that’s funny.      I started up the truck and began to creep down the road once more, sputtering away.

 “She’s got no power, Captain”. 

            Scotty’s voice reverberated in my ears as a sinking feeling washed over me.  “She’s out of gas, bonehead!”  Scotty’s voice was now customized to suit my predicament.  I scoured the horizon for a good place to pull off the road.  Obviously, I would not be mobile for too much longer.  A block ahead, the soothing image of a yellow “Shell” sign caught my eye.  What were the chances of my making it to the station? 

            The truck died again…I was going to have to rely on my already dwindling momentum to rendezvous with the refueling depot.  “Oh please God, let me make it” flashed continuously through my mind.  My emergency flashers were now on,  I was losing speed fast,  and people were passing me in droves on this busy four lane road.

              As I pulled into the gas station, I hoped that I would have enough power to make it to the pumps.  The truck stopped right in line with the first set of pumps I encountered.  The sign read “Please stop at the forward pump”.  Not this time, pal.  Some guy washing his car’s windows looked at me incredulously as I jumped out of the truck.  My flashers were still on; I shut them off.  I didn’t have to turn off the motor…my unsurpassed procrastination techniques had already taken care of that.  

            What were the odds of running out of gas practically right in front  of a gas station?  As I sheepishly started to pump the precious fuel into my vehicle, I thought about how lucky I had just been.  Sometimes, the  most unbelievable things can  happen.  Another lesson is learned, this time without attending the school of hard knocks.  Action reaps rewards, and inaction can result in painful consequences.  In the words of Theodore Roosevelt:  “…the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

             I’m going to go buy a lottery ticket.