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| Thursday, June 16, 2005 |
| Watch Your Mouth Young Lady! |
The year was 1999.* I was looking forward to May and graduating from college, but I had to get through finals first. I was a commuter, so getting to those finals involved a 40 minute drive in my 1985 Chevrolet Celebrity. We'd gotten pretty close, the Celebrity and I. Perhaps because every winter, starting it involved:
- Turning the key with no result
- Getting out in the freezing cold and opening the hood
- Sticking my trusty bic pen in the choke
- Getting back in the car and turning the key until the engine turned over
- Getting out of the car again, taking the pen out of the choke and slamming down the hood
- Driving to wherever I was going, knowing I'd have to repeat the process when I left.
But this little story isn't about Letty the Chevy Celebrity, not really. Although on the morning in question I was running a bit late to get to my first final and I had to stop for fuel. I filled up my car and walked into the convenience store to pay. There was a line twisting around the magazines, all the way back to the milk! As I got in the back of the line with a sigh, the man in front of me mumbled "Please let me get it this time." Deducing that he wasn't talking about the Twinkie in his hand, I remembered that there was a huge powerball lottery drawing scheduled for that evening. That explained the line then. $34 million dollars worth of explanation.
But before I had the chance to get really impatient a voice could be heard in the distance, coming from the direction of the cash register. "Is anyone here for anything other than a lottery ticket?"
Salvation! I might just make the final!
I stood on my tiptoes and waved my twenty dollar bill in the air. And at the top of my lungs, I cried out in desperation mingled with hope:
I'VE GOT GAS!!!!!
*This blast from the past is brought to you partly by Adamant and his blog, whose reminiscences brought me to the realization that blog topics don't always have to come from your present situation. |
posted by LoRi~fLoWer
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