Stopped off to put gas in the Subaru this morning, before hitting the highway for my morning commute.
Commute, gasoline, usual gas station…all pretty standard stuff.
I had just started pumping when I happened to look up and….. wow.
There was an older guy, late 50’s, early 60’s probably, standing by the gas cap of his bright yellow jeep.
But he’s not pumping gas.
He’s washing his car.
Not sure what he was using, but he had worked the area around the gas cap and left rear bumper into a thick soapy lather. And then….. he started washing himself.
Yep, he took some of that thick soapy lather off of his car, and started rubbing it vigorously onto his arms.
And then…. On to his not-so-white t-shirt.
So there he was, covered in thick suds from neck to waist, standing next to his similarly covered jeep.
Only THEN did he reach for the gas pump.
This is why gas pumps have automatic shut offs my friends.
For when guys like me end up pumping gas next to guys like him.
Because by this point, I was not paying any attention whatsoever to what I was supposed to be doing. I’m just staring at him, thinking deep thoughts like:
“Wow, that’s messed up.”
“glad I don’t sit next to him at work”
“where’s he gonna rinse all that off?”
“Oh, geez, maybe he’s not GONNA rinse all that stuff off.”
The pump shut off with a clang, bringing me back to my task at hand.
I re-holstered the pump.
Would I like a receipt? Certainly, thanks for asking.
I contemplated sticking around until he was done, just to see what was going to happen next. At the same time, I realized that NOT knowing was probably more entertaining than what the reality would end up being. So I got in my car, and drove away.
By lucky coincidence, The Pretenders song, Middle of The Road, was playing on WXRT when I turned the radio on as I pulled out of the station. I turned it on just as Chrissy Hynde was singing “You see the darndest things….”
Indeed.
