~To be honest, I posted this a long while ago, but it was just such a funny situation I HAD to do a re-post!
She looked like a sweet little old lady.
The truth is though, I’m very concerned that I’ve done something terribly wrong.
You see, yesterday as I walked back to my car after paying for my gas, a lovely old woman approached me and we began a very strange conversation.
“Hello dearie, did you pay first?” She asked, looking up at me. (Yes, she really DID say 'dearie'.)
I looked down to see her; an unusual occurrence for my 5’3” height.
“Um, pay first?” I asked, not sure what she was referring to.
“Yes, do you have to pay for the gas first?” She repeated to me. Her voice was sweet, kind and a little shaky from long years of use.
“Oh, no. You can go ahead and start putting gas in your car and then pay when you’re done.” I replied.
“Ah, but I did have to pay here first, once.” She smelled gently of Crabtree and Evelyn talcum powder, her light pink hair carefully coiffed and a pale shade of lipstick on her lips.
“That’s possible. But usually that’s after dark.” I was walking back to my car as we spoke, and she tagged along beside me.
Her car was parked behind mine, and I began to get the feeling that she might need some help pumping her gas. I asked if she would like that.
“Oh yes, thank you. Just $10 please.” She stared carefully as the numbers whizzed by.
At ten dollars, I stopped and replaced the nozzle and re-capped her tank, and said, “There you go. Now you can pay.”
“I hope I don’t get caught.” She grabbed at my arm conspiratorially and lowered her voice.
“Caught?” I was perplexed.
“I’m not supposed to have…well, I shouldn’t be driving.” She started and stopped, looking around suspiciously.
“Well,” I laughed cautiously, “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Those people at ICBC, tsk...three times I went in there…” She trailed off, pulling her cardigan close over her rounded shoulders.
“But the last time was in March,” she continued, “I had to! I didn’t have food in the house for months!”
“uh…oh” I stuttered. How did this conversation spin off so oddly?
“Oh, yes, but now I know that Safeway will deliver.” She nodded wisely to herself.
“Okay, well, don’t go speeding around now. Be safe.” I said, sounding like a fool.
“That’s okay, they won’t catch me.” I pretty sure I didn’t want to hear that from her.
As she made her way to the store to pay for her gas, she turned, waved and coyly pressed a single finger to her lips.
At least, I think she was going in to pay.
Who knows...perhaps the minute my back was turned she held up the store, jumped into her (stolen?) car and raced away on ten dollars worth of gas to the nearest Safeway to stock up.
Maybe I should have taken down her license plate number.
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19 comments:
hi Tai; all the while i was reading this story i was thinking that somehow she was going to manage to get you to pay for her gas, not exactly a case of "gas and dash" ... but, oh well...
anyway, i was thinking of you when i watched Oprah the other day...her "resident psychologist" was talking about her new book "Lies At the Alter" i think it is called, anyway...i think i am going to get it for my daughter...let me know what you think...
oh yeah, i agree with you about the hair...i too dislike having to pay a hairdresser every six weeks or so, just to be tidy, i also dislike sitting in a chair for so long...
later,
pj
cheers for now,
Did you just meet this old lady again or something?
Aiding and abetting, Tai... a proper pirate would have held up the gas station for the old lady. It would only have been good manners.
lol
That was a bit funny!
I wonder how I'll be when I turn 70... Hopefully, I'll be grabbing nurses asses and being yelled at for being an old geezer. Not.
Funny story though. I was wondering all along when is it that she'll just stomp on the gas and let you pay for it.
Blackcrag cracks me up! Good manners. LOL.
Old people are weird sometimes. I wonder what makes a mind goes that way... Maybe we're not done to have that much free time on our hands
I thought she was gonna take off when you put the cap on her tank. She sounds suspicious to me.
What a great story. That one is definitely publishable. You should freelance it somewhere. The devious old dear, eh.
Things like that are why I try to avoid all coversation with strangers.
Lordy. I think you ran into my mother! Were there poodles in her backseat?
I wouldn't worry about taking the license plate down. I suspect that the cops did that when they untangled her car from the plate glass window at the nearest Safeway.
Hi Tai
Reminds me of a story my Grandfather told me about the great depression. A conman would go into a restaurant and order food. After eating it he told the waitress "he was waiting for a friend to show up who would be paying the bill." The conman would wait for a customer "of means" to walk in ("of means" in the depression meant anyone who could afford to pay for dinner.) The conman would then get up and intercept the guy and engage him in conversation ("Don't I know you from somewhere") during which he would smile and wave at the waitress from across the room (essentially saying "this is my friend") The conman would shake hands with the patron ("sorry, I was mistaken") and leave. The Patron after eating would ask why he received such a large bill and the waitress would say "but your friend that you talked to when you came in said, you were paying his bill too."
I bet your "Little old Lady" remembers this one.
Did you check your credit card statement?
Tis an interesting story. But I like that you were ready to help her. Maybe she was just a bit senile.
Hi Tai,
Funny story. Cute picture below too!
I trickled over from Dribbler's site. Neat blog you have here.
Hey Tai!
I hope all is well.
It was nice of you to help out that little old lady in need...(Were you a Girl Scout by any chance?)...
Anyway, I have a lot of catching up to do in Blogtown...I've been out of the loop...again.
Take care out there, Tai!
Your Pal,
Zambo.
Old people are so funny. My hubby's grandmother squeezes the toilet paper in Walmart to make sure it is 'fresh'.
Dear lord, when was my mother in Canada?
Hilarious!
Hmmm that is interesting. Wonder why she shouldn't be driving? This topic has come up recently on a friend's blog - it really IS serious when one has impaired driving skills. She sure sounded sweet though. Glad she didn't stick you for the gas.
That is the cutest story...imagine what a firecracker she was back in the day!!!
Better start checking for her on the canadian's most wanted.
I thought you were going to say that she jumped in her car and took off...leaving you there partly responsible for pumping her gas!
It was kind of you to help her. Most people wouldn't have given her the time of day, let alone pump gas for her!
You haven't by chance seen her face on tv have you?
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