Driving a car is like getting to know a person. At first you learn about their outer traits; how agile are they? What name do they like to go by? What type of gas mileage do they get? But then more subtle traits begin to present themselves. How do they respond under stress? Do they attract attention? Do they lie about how full they are?
Today during my travels I learned about one of these traits the Eagle (my car) possesses, and unfortunately it's the last one. Specifically the speedometer told me I had a quarter of a tank left, when in fact all gas was absent. This trait presented itself on one of the busier roads, during one of the busier times in Atlanta, but while this seems like quite a disastrous event, I found the experience to be pleasant.
I was about a quarter of a mile away from the nearest gas station - which I would later be thankful for - when it began to putter, luckily there was enough putter to drag me to the side of the rode; however, knowing I was still in the way of traffic I put her in neutral and tried to push her further over. Unfortunately due to the incline of the road this proved to be a fruitless endeavor and I returned to the drivers seat to call a friend or a tow truck. But before I dialed a single number there were two people behind my car telling me to put it back into neutral. Our combined force easily maneuvered the car out of harm's way, and upon seeing this the two good samaritans returned to their own journeys.
From my new vantage point I reinserted the key and attempted to start the car only to be greeted with what is best described as the sound of a famished engine. (Alright, that nearby gas station seems like a bit of a blessing now). With my goal in mind and armed with my faithful gas can, I pilgrimaged to and from the gas station 3 times, each time stopping to see if I could coax the engine into starting again.
As you can guess the denouement of this story involves my car starting, but as they say, "The destination doesn't matter, its the way you get there." During my trips to and from the gas station a total of seven people offered me rides! Seven kind, understanding people. I ended up declining them because it wasn't a very tedious walk, but seven bloody people offered to help me! To add icing to the cake, on my final trip to my car a man standing at a bus stop, who had been observing my plight, told me that, "If your car has a fuel injected engine don't turn the key all the when your first starting it, just turn it a bit a couple of time." I have no idea whether that statements was correct or not, but I was thankful for it nonetheless.
It's nice to know that during rush hour traffic 10 people were willing to rush to my aide, to interrupt their already filled schedules to help a man who's car has been lying to him. But I think I might have lied to you as well. The real denouement happened after my car was back on the road. As I drove away I looked over to the man at the bus stop who smiled and gave me a thumbs up, to which I could only respond with a loud thank you, and a thumbs up of my own.
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