Look at the stupids on the shoulder!

I forgot to mention a little adventure that occurred yesterday. My mother buttonholed me into going to the grocery store with her for some odds and ends; I was feeling melancholy about going back to school, as well as a little bit guilty about not spending very much time with her, so I agreed.

Unfortunately, my mother has this "thing" about letting the gas tank get down to, well, fumes before she bothers to fill it up again. I think she thinks she is saving money via this method. Sadly, she apparently misjudged the volume of fumes left in the tank, because we ran out of gas on Rt. 91, about three hundred feet from the gas station. Argh. We had to call Dad, and he went and brought us gas. He took his time about coming (or so it seemed) and all that time we were stuck out there on the road with our emergency lights flashing. Obviously, running out of gas is a really flaky thing to do, so the other drivers were amused, I am sure. Everyone was gawking at the stupids on the shoulder of the road! Except there really wasn't any shoulder at all - we were kinda right where the action was. Gulp.

However, we all survived, in spite of minor humiliations; and we got home safe and sound, too. But I am going to refuse to go anywhere in any car that does not have the little dial that indicates fuel level at least a smidgen above the "E."