Tonight I was pumping gasoline, it was so cold that my hands were not listening to my brain, and I couldn't control them. The gas pump even had ear muffs on. Anyway, When I was pumping gas it made me think of a situation I was in last december in Indiana, or Illinois, not sure where I was.
Anyway, I have been having such a bad day, complaining all day about how so many things had gone wrong and I was just sick of things messing up, in other words feeling sorry for myself.
Last year, I was on my way to Chicago from Tennessee in the DEAD of winter. Though the reason escapes me now why I made the trip with no money, that was the case. I had $30 in my pocket when I left, 2 honeybuns, and 2 colas, heh, great lunch. So I used the majority of that money in gas, (my car took 20 per fill up) And I am surprised that I got that far. I remember now, it was in north indiana, just before crossing over into Illinois, I stopped at around 3pm at a small Texaco Station that had obviously been there longer than all the rest of the larger chains around it, (I always pick the mom & pop stores over the rest.) There was a lot of mud in the parking lot adjacent to that one, the frozen tracks of the 18 Wheelers were obvious everywhere.
I pulled up there knowing how really screwed I was, my tank was nearly empty, I had paid 8 bucks for food a couple of hours earlier, and had spent the rest on gas already except for $14 and some change left on a mastercard, which was frozen to my hand after I maxed it, (except for 45 cents that I left on the card.) I went inside hoping there was something I could get for 45 cents, and the pennies that I had in my pocket, but the cheapest thing I could find was coffee, and that was 69 cents with tax. So I sat down at one of the tables, you know the small ones crowded between poker games and trincket souviners on small stands, with a phone at each table for truck drivers. I sat there trying to warm myself, with the car running just outside. It was so cold that I had to leave it running because I wouldnt have been able to stand getting in it without it being warm. With the temp down between 2 and 5 degrees, and a wind chill a lot lower, that was the reason my car was taking so much gas, and that I was so weak and hungry as well I guess. Since I didnt have enough money to get anything, I just sat there feeling sorry for myself, hoping I would have enough gas to get me to Chicago.
These two young girls came in, maybe one was 17, the other might have been around 22, with an adorable little 12 year old blonde boy. They bought some coffee, and stuff for the boy, paid for their gas and went back out (my table was by the door, so I was really getting cold again at this point.) It was under a minute before they came back in, and usered the little boy into the table beside me, before they sat down. The older girl started to cry, and I gathered enough though her sobs that she had locked her keys in the car, with it running. She called to see how much it would cost for a locksmith, and obviously she didnt have enough money, because she cried even harder when she hung up the phone.
For the next 10 minutes I watched the older girl try to get the door unlocked with a metal coat hanger; she came back in cold and still crying to the younger girl and who I had guessed to be their brother that had waited inside. Her tears had frozen to her face. I overheard that they had just left their mother's funeral, so it was a trying day for them obviously, without this......I'm not sure how I unlocked their door that day, it was something I had never even tried to do before, but I did. And when I went back inside with her keys, to see the smiles on the two girls faces and the little boy beaming brightly, I couldnt have felt any higher. When she asked me if there was anything she could do for me, I saw the most humble moment of my life, when I told her that I was hungry, and didn't have any money to buy food. She bought me breakfast, and gave me $5 bucks and after they left I knew what those frozen tears felt like that had been on her face just a few minutes before as I walked back to my own car.
I drove away without an ounce of selfpity after that, and it was one of the best lessons I've ever learned.
Don't forget what goes on around you in this world, especially when you are so caught up in what's going on inside your own world.
