My SOS? AAA!

For eleven years and 162,000+ miles, not once have I ever ran out of gas to the point of no return. That is, until last night...

Thankfully, my experience was not as terrible as stressful as it could have been. I was at home and my car was in the driveway. I went in my car to make it to my power yoga class, tried to fire up the ignition, and my geriatric automobile sounded like a horse with no power. WTF? This NEVER happens to me! I've driven my car with the empty light on to work, to the gym, back home, and to the office the next day. In this instance, my gas empty warning light didn't even turn on. I guess the problem was that I was on empty and I went out of town for a real estate convention for 3 days. I took the train, so my car wasn't being driven for all that time. I guess what little fumes I had left eventually evaporated. I guess it happens to the best of us. I'm just pretty impressed that this is the first time it's ever happened to me.

Luckily my S.O. was off and offered to give me a lift to the gym. Late that day, he bought a 1-gallon plastic gas can, drizzled it in my Sahara-like gas tank, turned the key, and my engine just coughed like a smoker with bronchitis.

The next day, I pondered how the hell I was going to get more gas to give it a go one more time. Like a revelation, I remembered that I am an AAA Premiere member. At one time or another, I remembered reading somewhere about roadside assistance which included gas delivery.

I called the 800 # on my AAA card, confirmed they do this, and the nice customer service guy on the other line said "Yes, we deliver up to 2 gallons of gas free of charge as part of your Premiere Membership!" I explained that my car was on my driveway and that it wouldn't start as a result of my gas neglect. They happily informed me that someone would be there in 30 minutes or less, and I jumped for joy. Woohoo, AAA to the rescue!

The truck pulled up and I got an automated call from AAA updating me that the truck would be here shortly. Now that's what I call efficiency! My hero for the day poured the gas, asked me to crank the engine, at which point I just turned the key without knowing that I was supposed to pump on the gas. He offered to give it a go and after much effort and a big plume of smoke from my exhaust pipe, my car finally went purrrr. Its thirst was finally quenched.

Ahh...what a relief! Now that my car is getting farther and farther up there in age, I won't wait until I see the "get gas now" light staring at me in the face.

BUT..if I ever do, I get solace in knowing that my hero, AAA can always come to my rescue!