as you all know, gas is very, very expensive these days. there's a gas station down the street from jen's apartment that is actually only 3.09 a gallon, somehow. it is 10 cents cheaper than anywhere else. however, the place is called econo-gas and it was closed for most of the month of august while they repaved the area around the bays. the point is, the place is a little ghetto. i, of course, will put that aside for cheap, cheap petrol.

so i pulled in last night to this gas station to fill up. this was the third time filling up the camry i'm driving now, and it has a quirk that i haven't gotten fixed quite yet. the release for the hatch to the gas tank cover doesn't really work. basically, a spring is missing, so i have to prop the release open and then go to the hatch and slip a key in and pull open the thing. if i don't prop open the release, the hatch stays locked and can't be opened. i imagine i will be going to the dealership to get it fixed at some point. it's just weird, breaking in to my car to give it gasoline.

so after i did this song and dance and unscrewed the cap and everything, i realized that this gas station had no "pay at the pump" option. in fact, there was just a sign that said "pay inside first." as i said, a little ghetto. i went towards the gas mart, and as i walked in a police car pulled up to my right. i almost ran in to a woman who was leaving the gas mart, and i held the door open for her. i gave my credit card to the cashier and told him i was planning on filling up my car. he took the card and i walked out.

as i walked out, i overheard the woman i almost ran over talking to the police officer.
"with all the college kids in this neighborhood, is it really safe?"
"yes, yes it is. did you just move here?"
"yes"
"yes it's safe. there are a lot of break-ins..."

i walked back to my car. i start pumping gas, and about 10 seconds in i'm already annoyed at how much it costs and my phone rings. now, i'm pretty sure everyone knows about the urban legend going around about people catching on fire for answering their cellphones while pumping gas. i've looked around, it's really an urban legend, not a real thing that happens. i wasn't feeling so confident when push came to shove, however. i thought for a split-second, then i reached in and grabbed my phone and flipped it open.
"i'm risking my life right now"
understand that i had no idea who was on the other end. luckily, it was geoff with an indians update.
"2nd inning, 2 outs, tribe's up 10-0."
"i'm pumping gas. i'm risking my life."
geoff's laughing pretty hard now.
"yeah, but it was worth it."
"yeah," i conceded.

so i finish pumping gas. $48.58 to fill the tank - somehow i'm still under the $50 barrier. i go back into the gas mart to pay, and i notice that the cop car is still parked over to my right.

so the cop is standing on the side of the counter. he says something into his walkie-talkie as i walk in, but i didn't catch what it was. i wait for my credit card to clear. the cop starts saying "uh oh... uh oh..." i see that he is scratching a lottery ticket. "uh oh...i think i have something here..."
the cashier was clealry not from around these parts. "i hope you win. maybe you can quit your job. don't have to chase criminals all day, how would you like that?" in very broken english. he seems nervous that the cop is in the gas mart, but in a 'i hope i can become friends with this powerful man' kind of way.
we both look to see what happens. i'm lingering after i already signed the store's copy and kept a copy for myself.
"it looks like just $10"