The Overduin's

Dear Care,

While Chwk is not a small town the same way HG is, there are times the citizens still deal with each other in a small town way.

Today while driving from our house to the school I noticed I was a little (or more) low on gas. I hadn't taken my purse with me though, so I gave it no more thought seeing as I had no fiscal way to deal with the situation at hand.

Problem came on the way home again when I notice the gauge needle was periously close to the bottom. No, not the 1/8th mark or even the 16th mark for remaining fuel. This needle was dropping to the point of the gauge that spells FUMES ONLY. If I had been on my own I may have tried to make a go of it but I wasn't on my own so I drifted into Kim's and left the van idling while I dashed inside to pleade my case.

"Hi," I panted, "do you recognize me at all? I get gas here quite frequently. I have a huge favor to ask, I'm wondering if you could give me $10 worth of gas so I can get home safely, pick up my purse and come back to finish fueling up."

It's true, I really thought he would recognize me and say absolutely, no problem, here you go. I was in for a surprise. He was already shaking his head, shrugging his shoulders, rubbing his hands together. He was not buying this at all.

I resorted to begging. "I'm sorry to even have to ask. I really don't think I can make it home and back again on what I have. If I was by myself I wouldn't be so worried but I have six children in the van with me that I don't want to be stranded on the side of the road with."

He countered my pleading by opening his cash register and showing me three thick stacks of counterfeit bills, bogus credit card reciepts, and a few other requests that were similar to mine. "You say you come back, they all say they come back." He wasn't being rude, he was letting me know countless other people had ripped off him and his service station. "How can I trust humans?" he quietly finished.

What could I say? I promised him my name, phone number and address and then told him if he wasn't completely comfortable with it I would accept a no answer and try to figure out something else.

"I'll give you five dollars," he sighed. "I hope I see you again." Then he shifted sideways and typed $5 into the pump where my van sat gasping.

Those $5 went in fast, the van was thirsty. The second it was done I jumped into the van and took off for home.... and my purse.

Now, sis, up to now you might be thinking, big deal. If you were really small town they would have let you fill up and said no worries, stop in the next time you come by. You're right, they probably would have. But actually I'm not to the small town point of the story yet. That part started the minute I started to pull into the gas station, purse in hand.

I watched a big red truck with a tool box on the back pull in right in front of me. Could it be?! Yup, big town enough the gas station owner wasn't completely comfortable lending me gas, small town enough that upon my return my little brother pulled into the same gas station I had needed him at 10 minutes earlier.

Begging some money off him might have been as tough as begging gas off the owner but at least he would have been 100% certain where to find me if I didn't come through in paying him back!

Okay so that's not one bit true. :) If Brian would have been there when I needed him I wouldn't have even had to ask twice. But he wasn't there when I needed him, a fact I took time to point out. But in the end, it was okay. The kind owner took a chance on me and thankfully I was able to get straight back and pay the $5 (and the additional $57ish it took to satisfy the gas tank)

As a closing point I would just like to remind Brody the point of the story is that we are not a huge city. Bigger than HG yes, but just think, even if the gas station owner doesn't want to lend you gas, there is the possibility your brother -in-law might come by soon enough to pick up your tab? Is it tempting at all? ;)

Love you all!