Fill Her Up!

Today, I ran out of gas, and then I subsequently got filled up. I didn’t run out of gas literally. I went out for a bike ride, and I remembered everything except for my water bottles, which wouldn’t have been too bad had it not been hot as Hades here today.

Why didn’t I turn around and go back and get my water bottles? By the time I realized I was without them, I was 30 minutes into my ride. I then thought, “Aw, I’ll tough it out,” and I did.

Believe me, it could have been worse, because on my 25-mile ride, I was almost killed twice; first, a woman blew through a stop sign and almost hit me. When I saw her pulling out, I shouted, “Hey!” for lack of anything better to say like “You idiot, you’re going to kill me!” After what seemed like 5 hours and not five seconds, she stopped her Honda Element; and, if I get hit and maimed by any car, I so want it to be a late 80s or early 90s red Alfa Romeo Spider convertible not a Honda Element!

After my life flashed before a Japanese and not a notoriously unreliable Italian car, I made it onto the rail trail. The traffic on the trail was light considering it was a holiday. But, remember, morons never take a holiday!

As I was riding down the trail in my lane, I saw a man approaching me, who was totally oblivious to oncoming traffic and riding in my lane. About 20 feet before he and I would have a head-on collision, in which I would break my arm and subsequently lose my job, I shouted, “Hello?!?!?!” There’s driving and texting, and then there’s riding and making a movie.

Okay, I know I made a movie on my bike once upon a time ago; however, I filmed it when I was sure no one else was around. This guy was filming his wife and child in the right lane while biking in the left lane, again, my lane. I never speak up; today, was different, and I shouted, “Moron!” after he quickly pulled into the right lane nearly missing me at T-minus 5 feet!

I made it up to Nashua (12.5 miles), turned around, and then I headed back. I was a bit thirsty then. But, I had only begun to think about hijacking a Poland Springs truck; at least, I hadn’t thought about knocking down a fellow cyclist and stealing his/her water bottle.

When I was about 7 miles from home, fellow cyclists’ water bottles were beginning to look very appealing. Everyone looked like an easy mark to me. As I passed an older couple with binoculars peering out upon a large pond, I thought I could say, “Hey, look at that yellow-bellied sapsucker,” and while they were looking, I could grab their water bottles, and then quickly say as I sped off, “Oh, I’m sorry. That was just a robin!”

Fortunately, good dehydrated sense prevailed, if there was such a thing. When I was 5 miles from home, it was as if I was in the Sahara, and I was beginning to think in mirages. As I rode by a huge algae-covered pond, I thought, “If I pushed away the algae, I bet there’s some good drinking water there!”

When I finally made it home and entered the house, I saw my water bottles sitting there on the counter. They giggled. Am I the only person with animate water bottles?!?!

After I drank about 6 glasses of water, I showered. I knew I had some errands to do, so I made my list. I headed out in the car, and seeing that I was almost on empty, I knew I had to stop for gas on the way to the mall.

I pulled into a small station on Route 40. I rolled down the window, and I got a huge waft of pavement sealer. The attendant walked up to me, and I said, “Ewwww,” and then I quickly said, “Oh, I didn’t mean you!”

Brandon, I saw his name tag, said, “Oh, I know!” I said, “Could you please fill it up with regular?” He asked, “Cash or credit?” though I was hungry at that moment and hoping for “And, would you like fries with that?”

I told him cash, handed him my money, and he put the nozzle into my gas tank. He came back to my window and said, “So, what are you doing today?” I was caught off guard, because I never had anyone make small talk over a gas fill up.

I said, “I’m going to the mall.” He said, “On a day like today?” I said, “Well, I’m going where the air conditioning is, besides I already biked 25 miles in this brutal heat.”

He said, “Wow, 25 miles?” I said, “Yeah. It was hot out there today.” He said, “Do you do anything else? You look like you’re in great shape.”

I had to laugh; I laughed in my head. Brandon was about half my age, and there wasn’t much of me that he could see from his viewpoint, only my thighs peeking out from underneath my denim skirt. He said, “You must do something else too? Do you run?”

I laughed in my head again. I said, “Yes. I run during the week.” He then confessed that while he liked biking, he got bored with it after a while. (Suze, you’re not the only one.)

After my tank was full, he said, “So, what are you going to buy today?” Surprised again and now touched by his friendliness, I said, “Well, I’m just going to look.” If truth be told, I didn’t want to say, “Wrinkle cream, Venus razor blades, and whatever else strikes my fancy at Target.”

He handed me my receipt. I thanked him, and he said, “Enjoy your day.” I said, “Thank you. You too, Brandon.”

Until I stopped for gas, I was having a very alone kind of day. I was pondering, “Now that I had a job, in which direction do I want my life to go now?” I didn’t know; and I was feeling like I was on empty. As I drove off, I thought, “Thanks, Brandon. You just filled me up, even if only temporarily.” ♥