KAREN'S STORY-Grand theft... Gas?
This was one of those morning that you tell your children about... "And then there was the one time where mommy... Went to go get gas on a very cold Thursday morning. The snow was starting to blow in from a storm, so mommy pulled in to the Super America to gas up, since she was on empty, and certainly did not want to get stranded in the middle of a snow storm, on the back country roads. Mommy got her debit card from her purse, opened the car door, and stepped out into the bitter cold... a cold which she would soon discover would accurately reflect the cold, brutal world she lived in. She put her card into the pay at the pump reader... but the reader said it didn't read! "Huh, that's funny... I guess my card is getting old, let's try it again" and so she did. Mommy RESCANNED the card in the gas pump... again, the reader said the card didn't scan! "Well I guess I'll just have to go in to pay for gas today!" Said mommy, slightly annoyed. While the car's gas tank was filling up with gas, Mommy went about her cheerful ( ok not-so very, more like freezing my A** off, but you can't tell your kids that) way, wiping off all the car windows with the blue fluid kindly provided by the SA for such use. Once the gas pump was all done Mommy noted the all important gas information- "Ok, $26.07 on pump 1" and went in to pay the cashier. After waiting for about 5 minutes in line, mommy told the cashier her all important gas info "Hi, Gas on pump 1 please!" and laid down her debit card on the counter. The clerk smiled and ran the card through the machine.... ... ... and then came back with a busy, somewhat annoyed expression on her face "I'm sorry, but it doesn't like your card. Can you pay with another one?" "How ODD! Now the card is not working in the cashier's machine EITHER!!! It was just fine two days ago..." thought Mommy to herself. "Oh well" she said to the cashier with a smile growing uneasier by the second, "I'll just write a check". "Oh... All I need on that is your signature and the date" Said the cashier blandly. So that's what Mommy did, wishing for the days when stores actually wanted you to properly complete monetary equivalents before you used them to pay for goods. After all, what if she had been a thief, and had stolen someone's checkbook??? Where was the protection for the innocent consumer??? The clerk took the hastily completed check and ran it through the machine... ... ... and gave it back. "I'm sorry" the clerk said with an annoyed frown. "but it doesn't like the check either" At this point, panic has begun to set into mommy's mind, squeezing it's ugly hand around her heart. People behind her were starting to stare, and the color was starting to flush into her cheeks... "Ok" Mommy said rather brusquely "Where's your ATM?" The clerk pointed with an offhand gesture to the ATM machine... "Mommy rushed to the ATM, praying that it would spit out the desired funds.... Yes! The pin # went in... Yes! the screen came up asking how much money to withdraw... Yes! The screen came up asking to approve the $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee! Normally, mommy would have found the fee annoying, but at this point, she couldn't have cared less. She was THIS close to getting the needed gas money, when suddenly... NO!!!! The atm informed her it was unable to process the transcation. IT SEEMED AS THOUGH THE MORTGAGE HAD COME OUT, AND HADCOMPLETELY DEPLENISHED THE BANK ACCOUNT! Mommy looked for a stunned moment at the contents of her wallet... The empty cash folds and club cards held no promise of being able to pay for the gas... no additional source of funds was in sight... Now Mommy was completely panic stricken! she did not want to go to jail as a GAS THEIF!!! No, Mommy was a hard working, honest US citizen, she was not theif, just the victim of an unfortunate bank account timing accident... What to do, what to do???? She went back to the counter... "I'm so sorry, I don't have another way to pay for this... Let me call my husband..." She blubbered to the clerk. The clerk forwned at her... "Let me see your driver's license" The clerk grated out, staring at her as though she was about to commit Gas Grand Larceny, a high crime in the Super America world! At this point everyone in the store was staring with mixed looks of pity and contempt. The other store clerks were also beginning to look at mommy with expectations of seeing Gas Grand Larceny committed in front of them. "Of course, Of course!" Mommy whipped her her license and gave it to the clerk. The clerk in turn glared at her and began scribbling down her vital information, so that when Mommy did commit High Gas Larceny, she could call the police and have them haul Mommy off to jail for said unpaid gas crimes. Mommy meanwhile, whipping out her cell phone decided to call her knight-in-shining-armor, Daddy! Ring... Ring... ring... "Thank goodness for cell phones" Mommy thought while listening to the phone ring. "You called?" Daddy's humor filled tones promised salvation. "MikeIhaveaproblem. I'msitting at SAandthere'snomoneyintheaccount, andIhavetopayforGas!!!!" Huh-what?" Apparently, mommy had talked so fast , that Daddy had not understood a single word she had just said... "I'm at S A . I tried to pay for the gas, but we don't have any money in the account. Do you have 26$" "Well, isn't Christina with you???" Said daddy. Ah yes, If Aunty Christina had been carpooling with Mommy that day, as they had planned on the night before, she could have paid for the gas, and prevented this entire fiasco from occuring. Unfortunately, FATE had other ideas, and Aunty Christina had come up with a different carpooling plan, since the snow has not been as bad as she had thought it would be. "No!" said Mommy, fear and desperation creeping into her voice. "She drove herself this morning!" "Oh... ok um, let's see, I've got 25$." Daddy said, in a helpful tone. "Can you borrow a BUCK from someone and bring it down here????" Mommy said, wonderign why he could not manage to pull off the impossible and magically appear in front of her with said funds. "Karen, I can't just leave my post!!!" Said daddy, with a one of annoyance mixed with a bit of desperation. "What???" Thought Mommy? "This is my knight in shining armor??? How's he gonna save me sitting on his A** (whoops I meant rear, sitting on his rear) at work???" thought Mommy, pure, unmitigated panic now taking hold. "How Am I gonna pay for the gas? I'm NOT gonna leave SA with unpaid gas!!!" Ahh... upon hearing this something changed in the demeanour of the store clerks, and the people around Mommy suddenly looked at her with more pity, and less contempt... "Well, hang in, give me a few minutes to figure something out..." Daddy hung up, sounding a bit puzzled. Mommy snapped the cell phone closed in dejection and hung her head in shame, unable to figure out how to escape committing Gas Grand Larceny. "Mam" the clerk suddenly called Mommy over in a much more compassionate tone. "Don't worry about it. these things happen. Do you know when you'll be able to bring the money?" "Oh Yes!" Said mommy, releif washing over her. "I just have to go get it from My husabands work! It won't be more than 20 minutes! Do you need me to leave my driver's license or anything?" "Oh no " said the clerk, with a somewhat worrisome looking grin... "I have all your information". "Ok, thank you so much" Mommy said (Actually I'm not sure I said anything to her, I may have been too upset at the time, but it is important for children to learn manners...) Mommy walked quickly out of the store into the blustering cold, flipped open her cell phone and called Daddy back... "Yes?" He answered, still sounding a bit puzzled "Ok, they've let me go to pick up the money. I'm gonna come to the refinery and get it". "Ok." Then mommy hung up the phone, got into the car filled with the temporarily ill-gotten gas and drove the 10 minutes through the whipping snow out to the refinery. She tried very hard not to speed, especially on the road outside the refinery, as Daddy's security friends would have had a great time pulling her over for speeding at his work. As she pulled into the only parking lot that was open to the general public, she looked around for a parking spot where Daddy would be able to see her from his security camera... There wasn't one. Throwing up her hands in frustration, Mommy parked at a 45 degree angle from the front door and dug through her purse for her cellphone. Just as she was trying to dial Daddy's number, the cell phone began to ring... It was Daddy! Hello, I'm here" said Mommy, feeling more exhausted and overwrought with each second. "Yeah I know" daddy said sounding amused, and then proceeded to knock at her window. she hadn't even seen him walking up behind the car in her mirror! Mommy hung up her cell in self disgust and opened the car door. "You ok?" Asked Daddy concerned. "Yes" she said, a little sniffle bringing her almost to the emotional breaking point. "Do you have any change on you" said Daddy with a comforting, if somewhat cold-looking smile. "I have $25.90" and proffered a truly beautiful little pile of folded bills and gleaming change. "Yes, I've got a quarter right here, it'll be fine" said Mommy, feeling for the first time like it actually would be. After a quick kiss from a very cold Daddy (who had resumed his status as redeeming savior by providing gas money), Mommy closed the car door and proceeded back down the snow strewn country roads towards the SA and redemption. Mommy pulled into the gas station, opened up her purse and carefully put the beautiful money in the palm of her gloved hand. She walked into the store with head held high, and waited in line to give a different clerk her funds. The clerk looked at Mommy quizically, as if she had never seen the prior Gas Grand Larceny suspect before and shuffled around the paperwork to try to find the incriminating driver's license and receipt documentation. The confused clerk finally had to bring out the manager, the self same manager who had shown pity on Mommy not 20 minutes before, to ring up the transaction. With some aplomb Mommy gave the manager her hard fought money and FINALLY paid for the much grief inducing gas. The day was saved! And the moral of the story... I love my husband very, very much, and next time I'll have a credit card or a sister with a credit card) on hand for bank-account timing malfunctions! Karen |
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| OMG Poor Karen....what a nightmare!!
Glad your Knight in shining armor came through  |
OMG, as I sit here and LMAO I say "Rebecca, that sucks and you shouldn't be laughing" then I laugh at myself for having a conversation w/ myself  ..........the way that you explained this horrible story I could see it in my mind! You did such a great job!
I am happy that it all worked out for you! Yea Hubby!  |
I think if you could find an illustrator you might have a childrens book in there somewhere 
What a wretched experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
LOL Poor Kar.....Gotta love those knights though..(you know its all in the uniform)  |
 Poor Karen!
Thankfully, those days don't come around too often! And, thank goodness for your Knight In Shining Armour! |
| Thank goodnesss hubby saved the day! It's not really a funny story, but it is You'll be able to laugh at it too soon enough |
| Poor Karen!!
As I sat here reading your story, I was half-laughing and half-"aww"ing over your morning! And thinking to myself, "Remember when this could have been me?"  I've learned the hard way to always carry a credit card.
Thanks to Mike for coming to your rescue! What a time you two will have tonight rehashing the events!
Chris |
| Thanks guys... It was a pretty harrowing incident, esp. since I've always been one to walk the straight and narrow... I was practically beside myself at some points. In fact, after I;d gotten done paying for my gas, I was pretty tempted to just turn around, go home and feel sorry for myself the rest of the day... But I'm at work instead like a good girl (I guess almost stealing gas is enough guilt to deal with for one day)! The only good thing about this (other then to reiterate how much I love my husband) is that I just wrote probably the best story I've written since I was in college, and it even managed to be a little funny! Plus, it only took my like an hour to write... Too bad I had to live through it first!
At this point I just want to go home, get a hug from Mike, and have something to eat that involves chocolate, and possibly some alcohol!
I could really use a puppy right now... Karen  |
| (((((HUGS)))))) |
| Uhhh.... Ron? Do I sense a little creative addition to my topic header... It could just be the after effects of my morning trauma, but I could swear that last part just got added... Or did i put that there?
Am I losing my mind again???? |
| I frequently make changes to topic titles... otherwise we'd have a million posts with very similar titles. Also, more descriptive titles make it easier to find when searching.
If you (or anybody) has an issue with an edit I've made, PLEASE let me know and I'm sure we can easily come to an agreement on the wording. |
| No, no, no, not at all!!! that's definitely an improvement I just thought I'd totally lost my mind! I'm just glad I'm managing to remain lucid today |
| Oh Karen, I was laughing at your story - just the way you described it. I'm sorry that happened. I'm glad your husband came to your rescue. |
| Oh gosh Karen!! What a wonderful story teller you are!!! I'm going to look forward to your upcoming adventures some day in Oprah's book club!! I was right there with you the whole time when reading your story!Sympathizing and feeling relieved when I got to the happy ending!
The way I look at it....you're right ...a story to tell the young'uns when you're an old lady and you'll be hooting and chuckling at the memory. Marianne and the boys |
| oh man what a story. Very well told and you're right it's a story for the kids. |
| All this brought back the horrors of something similar happening to me 36 years ago! (without the snow storm!) God Bless your husband. Yes, you will remember this day......and the panic you felt never goes away. |
| Karen,
Thanks for sharing your story. |
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