so, in case you were wondering, here’s the story behind yesterday’s tweets:
super guilt: someone at the gas pump before me had prepaid but forgotten to fill up. pumped my gas and went to pay but didnt owe.
to whomever prepaid for gas at pump 2 in ritzville but forgot to fill up: i owe you $40!
SERIOUSLY?? found the people from the gas mix up and paid them back. AWESOME!
so, yesterday i was driving home from zillah with the boys and we had to stop at ritzville for gas (coasted into ritzville for gas...cut that one close!). pulled up to the pump, got out, opened the gas cap, took out the pump, selected my grade, filled up, all seemed normal. went inside to get some drinks and pay...still seemed normal...til i got to the register and my chevron card is NO WHERE. not in my pocket, not in my purse, not in my wallet. so there i stand like an idiot...and i ask the gal if she can hold the purchase for just a second while i check my car...run out, tear through the car, NOTHING, no card...S.O.L. i get back inside and she's all confused because there's a guy asking for his change from pump 2 (which is the pump i'm on). she's all confused, i'm all confused...change? i haven't even paid yet...what the hell? he says he prepaid for pump 2 but didn't fill up and he wants his money back...but when i went to fill up there was nothing on the pump...WHAT THE HELL? she gives him about $6 in change then goes to ring mine up AGAIN and asks how much i want on pump 2..umm...i already filled up. oh, well then you took that guys prepaid gas. SHIT. so i look out the window and he's already pulling out of the station, so i finish paying for the drinks and whatever (thankfully i had cash since i STILL couldn't find my card) and try to get out to catch him, but he's GONE...was going to offer to pay for his gas since he paid for mine. but it's ritzville, i have no idea if the guy lives there or if he's passing through like me...and he's GONE. now what? i feel guilty for taking some guys gas...it isn't cheap, and if he's like me, he can't afford to just write off forty bucks...SHIT...now what? not much i can do at this point. ugh. GUILT.
so i get back on the road headed back to spokane, cruising along...right about springdale i recognize a car a few ahead of me...silver and black rodeo type rig...NO WAY...it can't be them. so i pull up next to the rig, but don't recognize the driver....but the passenger looks familiar...NO WAY. of all the directions you can head out of ritzville, PLUS maybe living there or in one of the nearby towns...here's the car i owe money to on I90 on the way back to spokane...NO WAY. so, i try to get their attention, but it's not working. we get into spokane and i see they're taking the maple street exit...so i take the exit too...and while we're stopped at the light at the bottom of the exit i jump out of my car (in my son's sandals because i couldn't put my shoes on that quick) and pop back to their car and ask them if they just filled up at ritzville...or tried to anyway. they're looking at me like the crazy person that i am...i tell them i was the one at the pump that ended up with their gas and have $40 for them...we pull over in a parking lot nearby, they hand me the change the clerk had given them and i hand them the $40 bucks they probably thought they would never see again and on our way we went.
HOW RANDOM! of all the directions they could have headed...the speed factor of me catching up to them (not even kidding, this is one of the rare times i wasn't even speeding and i caught up to them!), all the exits they could have taken, rest stops they could have turned off at, everything...and i caught up with them and recognized their rig from a 2 second glimpse out the gas station window...
AWESOME. felt so good to get them their money back! and it was a good lesson for my kids too...even if it makes you seems like a crazy person, always do the right thing! even after i did recognize their rig i could have driven right past and they probably would have never know the difference. but ALWAYS do the right thing. it feels good. nothing can beat that feeling. the random greatness of the universe giving you a chance to make it right and DOING IT. it was a pretty awesome moment at the end of a great weekend.
so there you have it. the odd, random twitters explained.
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That is really cool that you did that. I live by the same rule, always do the right thing. I have a story that is nothing like your story but the moral is the same. I live just down the street from Ft. Colville school in Colville and take my kids up to play on the playground up there all the time. Last week all 5 of us were walking back down to our house when we noticed in bright yellow side walk chalk the word penis written across the sidewalk. I could have just walked on home but I knocked on the old guy's door and told him what was written. He was distraught because at first he thought it was permanent but I told him it was just chalk and offered to spray it off for him. So he's standing in his door way in his pajamas and I'm out there spraying down his sidewalk. I also felt really good and thought it was a good example for my kids to see that I went out of my way to do the right thing. On top of doing the right thing, I also find opportunities for my kids to be able to do the right thing. Good for you and thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add onto that story that on top of the moral lesson, it was pretty dang hilarious as well.
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