Dumbest thing I've seen in a while

"Cash Rewards" (cashrewards) 07/24/2017 at 12:15 • Filed to: None

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So when I got home this morning there was a newish X5 with its hazards on, with a mom and 6 year old (?) outside, mom on phone, upset. She avoided eye contact with me, so ok, you don’t need help. Later I see her lugging a 5 gallon jug of gas from the station 3 blocks away. So first, she ran out of gas. Then, instead of knocking on a door and asking (3 of the first 4 houses cut their own yards and would of had some around) she dragged her daughter in the heat to the gas station. There, instead of just a splash to get her back, she filled the damn thing up and carried it back full. To top it off, she drove off with her gas door open. These are the people we share roads with.

Sidenote: I love the X5

ttyymmnn > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:20

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I would have stopped and asked anyway. A lot of times, people are just embarrassed.

McMike > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:24

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Carry five gallons back. Jeez.

 I once bought a Arizona iced tea (the class bottles with the wide mouth) and drank it before buying 28oz of fuel for the walk back to where I ran out.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:25

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Cash Rewards > ttyymmnn 07/24/2017 at 12:31

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If she wasn’t on the phone I would have for sure. To be honest, if there was something mechanically wrong with the thing there was nothing I could do. Gas was the last thing I thought she needed.

Cash Rewards > McMike 07/24/2017 at 12:32

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Smart! At first I thought maybe it was just the size container they had, but it was obviously heavy and it took a couple minutes to empty.

Honeybunchesofgoats > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:32

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I think a lot of people are either embarrassed to ask for help, don’t expect to get any, or are paranoid about engaging with strangers, so I don’t judge her for that so much as see it as sort of a depressing statement about how people view society.

That said, I’m pretty sure most, if not all, of my credit cards come with free roadside assistance and I’m pretty sure my phone plan does as well, so I have no idea why anyone with a cellphone would walk to a gas station.

McMike > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:37

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I had run out of fuel on the motorcycle, and was walking down the shoulder for a mile to the gas station.

I was wearing chaps, jacket, etc...

I was scouring the ground as I walked for a suitable container. I had picked up a 16oz Icehouse can, then picked up a 24oz Corona bottle. Not sure which one would be the better choice, I just held on to them until I got to the gas station and thought of the Iced tea bottle.

Everyone passing me on the road must have thought I was some sort of solo highway cleanup crew from the local YMCA.

CalzoneGolem > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:37

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I always stop and ask people stopped on my road if they need help. Most of them just need to be told that they need to keep driving to get to the strawberry fields.

Cash Rewards > haveacarortwoorthree2 07/24/2017 at 12:37

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My wife admitted she’d be hesitant to knock on a stranger’s door with one of our kids with her, but this is my neighborhood. Pretty safe looking

404 - User No Longer Available > McMike 07/24/2017 at 12:42

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...why didn’t I think of that when I ran out of gas a few years ago. Been stuck with that jerrycan I’ve never used since and taking up storage.

Cash Rewards > Honeybunchesofgoats 07/24/2017 at 12:48

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I think, unfortunately, your first sentence hits the nail on the head. And I’m the sort of person who’d say fuck it and knock on the door of anyone with a shed in their back yard, so that sort of reaction never occurred to me.

Cash Rewards > McMike 07/24/2017 at 12:51

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Icehouse

*involuntary shudder*

haveacarortwoorthree2 > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:51

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I live in a gated community (I used to travel a ton and it made me feel better since my wife and (then) three small kids were there during the week without me). I drive a pretty nice car. I think I look relatively normal. So that’s an intro to my story of seeing a woman standing next to a car with its hood up in my neighborhood. The car didn’t have our neighborhood sticker on it, and she didn’t have a phone in her hand so I thought she might need assistance. Instead of passing her, I stopped, rolled down the window, and asked if she needed anything. She immediately started yelling for help. I pulled a block up the street (no leaving the scene for me!), called 911, and reported a crazy woman with a broken down car screaming in my neighborhood. I waited until the cops got there — one went to her, the other came to me. They then met in the middle to compare notes, and then both turned toward me and started laughing. “My” cop walked back to me, took down my address, and said he’d be by in a bit. About 15 minutes later, both cops show up at the house — apparently, the woman had heard a story about men tasing women whose cars broke down on the highway and then kidnapping them, so she wanted to make sure I wasn’t the kidnapper. Both cops were laughing so hard that they were crying as they were telling me the full-blown scenario that this crazy woman had cooked up and explained to them. Which is great and all, but that’s the last time I’ll stop and offer to help anyone. I’d hate to think what would’ve happened had I just driven away from this crazy woman and her or someone else hearing her screaming had called the police.

ttyymmnn > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:53

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I guess it’s just me. I still would have asked. I saw a woman the other day at Costco who had a large gas can and was on the phone next to her car. Turns out she had run out of gas, bought a can, filled it at Costco, but couldn’t figure out how to work the can (it has one of those stupid vapor locks on it). As I was turning around to help her, somebody else stopped and figured it out for her. I always ask, regardless.

promoted by the color red > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 12:55

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To be fair, maybe it’s her first time in a situation like this. Not everyone knows how to react and some people don’t think clearly when facing the unknown.

Cash Rewards > haveacarortwoorthree2 07/24/2017 at 12:59

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That’s bonkers, and a smart idea not to just leave.

Cash Rewards > ttyymmnn 07/24/2017 at 13:02

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You’re not wrong, and to be honest, the embarrassed factor never really crossed my mind. Honeybunchesofgoats gets it right, I think. I’m the sort that wouldn’t hesitate to ask anyone with a shed in their yard for gas, so it never crossed my mind. Maybe I’d approach it different in the future.

Cash Rewards > promoted by the color red 07/24/2017 at 13:03

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Yeah, true. The person helping on the phone might share the blame here.

interstate366, now In The Industry > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 13:05

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Icehouse and Natural Ice, too. I have a work-related story about Natural Ice that I can’t post on the internet.

Cash Rewards > interstate366, now In The Industry 07/24/2017 at 13:06

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Tease

ttyymmnn > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 13:06

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I’m not preaching. I just never hesitate to ask. My boys have seen me do this on more than one occasion, and I hope they learn from it.

DipodomysDeserti > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 13:13

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Pretty smart of her not to knock on stranger’s doors especially with her kid. This is 2017, not 1957. I’m surprised a station carried 5 gallon jugs. They usually just have those little one gallon plastic ones.

Cash Rewards > ttyymmnn 07/24/2017 at 13:19

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I didn’t think you were, it’s another perspective I appreciate, and one I’d like my own kids to model. Thanks!

Cash Rewards > DipodomysDeserti 07/24/2017 at 13:21

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Yeah, probably, which is sad.

McMike > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 13:22

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I think it was an Icehouse. Could have been Natural Light Ice or some other “I’m going to drink on the way home from work because my wife doesn’t let me drink at home and I can’t stop at a bar because she’ll ask what took me so long and this beer is cheap and I’ll just pay cash but I have to get rid of it before I get home” type of can.

fintail > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 13:30

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I wonder how long she drove with a low fuel light blazing bright in her eyes, or maybe even a chime when it got really low. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I pity who she comes home to.

Cash Rewards > McMike 07/24/2017 at 13:46

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I think that describes that beverage market quite well

Cash Rewards > fintail 07/24/2017 at 13:48

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The full carry container got me. I’ve run out of gas (light broke, gauge was already broken) but just get enough to get you back, not 100 miles worth! It took a couple minutes to fill up!

McMike > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 13:57

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There’s also the “stop at the convinience store on the way home from the job site with the crew and it’s an hour minutes back to the office and there’s no AC in this truck and I’m not driving the truck but I’m going to get rid of the can before we get back because that guy got fired becaues he left his can in the truck the last time” serving size.

Urambo Tauro > Cash Rewards 07/24/2017 at 17:25

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I’ve never run out of gas (well, not in my own car , anyway). The gauge is right in front of me; how could I miss it?

But I do understand that everyone’s money situation is different, and sometimes you do have to cut things a bit close. Still, how do you go from “I can’t get fuel because I can’t afford it” to “I’m buying fuel AND a brand-new can to put it in” without passing by a gas station in between? The mind boggles...

Cash Rewards > Urambo Tauro 07/24/2017 at 17:59

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I had part of the fuel die so the gauge didn’t work. That was fine, I used the mileage and the light as a backup. One time I don’t k ow what happened, bad mileage, gas station pump cut off before the fill, I don’t know, but it got low mileage for the tank. Only this time, the light broke too, so it died. It can happen, but it’s a confluence of events.