In My Younger, More Foolish Days, There Was A ...

In my younger, more foolish days, there was a game that I liked to play that my wife didn’t like very much. We’d be driving down the highway, when I’d notice that the fuel gage was getting close to empty. My wife’s preference at this point, was for me to stop at the nearest gas station, while I preferred to get the best deal that I could.

I remember a time we were headed back home from Michigan. I knew that the best place to get gas was at Bowling Green, OH; however, I was still about a half hour away from there when the fuel light blinked on. There were many fuel exits that I passed by though that little yellow light burned the warning that I needed gas. Tricia was getting antsy as the miles passed, while I joked, “Let’s see how long we can go on empty.” She didn’t think I was funny.

Soon, we came to our exit. I pulled onto the off-ramp; however, the ramp went uphill, causing the little gas I had to slash to the back of my tank. The car sputtered and died. Now, I was concerned as I put my car in neutral and tried to restart the car while praying to myself. Miraculously, the car started, but then I had to wait at the red light. The light turned green, and I started toward the closest station. However, we had another problem. I had to sit in the left turn lane waiting for traffic to pass, and still that light mocked me for my foolishness. Finally, I was able to pull into the station, and just as I pulled up to the pump, the car sputtered and died. I had made it, but that was too close!