...oh, unless you can find a Flying J.
Let me explain.
Recently we were on our way to Utah when we saw a car stopped on the side of the road, with a license plate that indicated that it belonged to someone that was not only from Idaho, but from a county near ours. Not far away from said vehicle was someone walking in the direction of the nearest town. My husband backed up our vehicle and got out and talked to the gentleman. Turns out that he had run out of gas, so my husband offered to give him a ride into the nearest town/city/metropolitan area, which was, I'm guessing, about 3 miles ahead. We stopped at the nearest gas station off the nearest exit. My husband figured the gentleman would go in, put a deposit on a gas can, fill it, we would run him back to his car, and voila, done.
Nope.
The gentleman came back out and said he would have to buy a gas can for $11.00. This happened at more than one station. (You know how sometimes gas stations seem to all be in a cluster, right? :) So all the adults in the vehicle thought that $11.00 was way too much, and figured that it would be cheaper to just go buy a gas can somewhere, like the local national chainstore, or the local national hardware chainstore. So we headed for the nearest national chainstore, and guess what? A one gallon gasoline container costs...drumroll, please... $11.00.
Aaaaaaaugh.
So, the gentleman decided to try one more gas station, and ding, ding, ding, we had a winner--the Flying J had the gentleman put down a $10.00 deposit on a one-gallon gas container. He filled up said container. We took him back to his vehicle. We drove away....
Yeah, a couple of things to be taken away from this experience, in my opinion. The gentleman didn't have a gas container in his vehicle for emergencies, and neither did we. Of course, you won't need one if you keep your vehicle at a set amount, (say, 1/4 or 1/2 tank) and fill it back up every time you go below your chosen mark. But, you might if you tried to help someone like we did.
It helps to know what the "going rate" is for something you may need to purchase in an emergency. As stated above, all the adults in the vehicle thought that $11 was way too high a price for a gas container, and that the first few gas stations were taking advantage of someone's unfortunate situation, when all they were doing was asking for an honest replacement price. It would have saved us at least a trip to the local national chainstore to know the correct price.
And now, for the disclaimers---I wouldn't have stopped to help the gentleman if I had been by myself. Don't create an emergency for yourself by putting yourself in a potentially dangerous situation, even if your intentions are good. Also, for us, the Flying J in that metropolitan area was willing to lend out a gasoline can, but I have no idea if that would happen nationwide. But notice, when a store does something helpful, I don't mind giving them a little free positive publicity...
Here's hoping that you never find yourself walking to a metropolitan area, having run out of gas.And here's hoping that if you ever do find yourself on the side of the road, it can be fixed with a gallon of gas, or something easier--it was good in this case that running out of gas was the problem, and not something mechanical.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!
Let me explain.
Recently we were on our way to Utah when we saw a car stopped on the side of the road, with a license plate that indicated that it belonged to someone that was not only from Idaho, but from a county near ours. Not far away from said vehicle was someone walking in the direction of the nearest town. My husband backed up our vehicle and got out and talked to the gentleman. Turns out that he had run out of gas, so my husband offered to give him a ride into the nearest town/city/metropolitan area, which was, I'm guessing, about 3 miles ahead. We stopped at the nearest gas station off the nearest exit. My husband figured the gentleman would go in, put a deposit on a gas can, fill it, we would run him back to his car, and voila, done.
Nope.
The gentleman came back out and said he would have to buy a gas can for $11.00. This happened at more than one station. (You know how sometimes gas stations seem to all be in a cluster, right? :) So all the adults in the vehicle thought that $11.00 was way too much, and figured that it would be cheaper to just go buy a gas can somewhere, like the local national chainstore, or the local national hardware chainstore. So we headed for the nearest national chainstore, and guess what? A one gallon gasoline container costs...drumroll, please... $11.00.
Aaaaaaaugh.
So, the gentleman decided to try one more gas station, and ding, ding, ding, we had a winner--the Flying J had the gentleman put down a $10.00 deposit on a one-gallon gas container. He filled up said container. We took him back to his vehicle. We drove away....
Yeah, a couple of things to be taken away from this experience, in my opinion. The gentleman didn't have a gas container in his vehicle for emergencies, and neither did we. Of course, you won't need one if you keep your vehicle at a set amount, (say, 1/4 or 1/2 tank) and fill it back up every time you go below your chosen mark. But, you might if you tried to help someone like we did.
It helps to know what the "going rate" is for something you may need to purchase in an emergency. As stated above, all the adults in the vehicle thought that $11 was way too high a price for a gas container, and that the first few gas stations were taking advantage of someone's unfortunate situation, when all they were doing was asking for an honest replacement price. It would have saved us at least a trip to the local national chainstore to know the correct price.
And now, for the disclaimers---I wouldn't have stopped to help the gentleman if I had been by myself. Don't create an emergency for yourself by putting yourself in a potentially dangerous situation, even if your intentions are good. Also, for us, the Flying J in that metropolitan area was willing to lend out a gasoline can, but I have no idea if that would happen nationwide. But notice, when a store does something helpful, I don't mind giving them a little free positive publicity...
Here's hoping that you never find yourself walking to a metropolitan area, having run out of gas.And here's hoping that if you ever do find yourself on the side of the road, it can be fixed with a gallon of gas, or something easier--it was good in this case that running out of gas was the problem, and not something mechanical.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!
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