Cheated

Yesterday I went to put gas in my car. I hate doing that, not only because the price of gas is simply OUTLANDISH, but also because one time, when I lived in Missouri, I forgot to take that thingy out of my gas tank after I filled up, and then drove away still attached to the pump. I'm really just afraid this might happen again.

So anyway, I filled up at $2.65/gallon, and I think it is ridiculous that, as I drove past the gas station, I was like, "WOO! Only $2.65!" when just last year I would have scoffed at this price and thought poorly of people who paid it.

Well, I went into this transaction thinking that I would pay twenty dollars for gas and be good for the rest of the month. But then I realized that twenty dollars would get me about seven gallons. So then I had a little discussion with myself:

Me: I don't want to pay more than twenty dollars.
Me: Well, then you're hardly going to get half a tank of gas with that.
Me: But it's soooo expensive.
Me: But you NEED to fill up the car.
Me: Well, where am I going all summer that necessitates a full tank of gas?
Me: ... good point.

So, having settled that, I decided that twenty dollars would do, and I got ready for that funky think where you squeeze-stop-squeeze-stop so you can manipulate the amount of gas you pay for. Only, stupid ME, I had pushed up that little bar that gives you a handsfree gassing experience and hadn't realized it. So when I finally figured out the problem, the meter was already at $20.65.

I decided then that I could just get $25.00 of gas and that would be okay. Only then, when I tried the stop-squeeze thing, the meter was moving so quickly, (well, the pumps DO say "fastest gas in town") that I wound up at $25.10.

So THEN, I was starting to get a little mad, and I was like, FINE I WILL FILL UP BUT I'M NOT PAYING A PENNY MORE THAN THIRTY DOLLARS.

And once again that fast-flowing gas screwed me over, and the meter read $30.01. That is the maddest I have ever been at a gas pump.

So then I was like, "Well, I am paying with two twenties and that cashier is just going to have to count out 99 cents SO THERE," thinking I would get my revenge on the sixteen-year-old who had set those gas levers to get my extra pennies.

So I marched in there, all self-righteous, and parked my money on the counter. Only, the cashier calmly reached over to the Find-a-Penny cup, pulled out a penny, and gave me a ten dollar bill. I never thought I would see the day when I would be so enraged at Alexander Hamilton, but for a minute there I was glad that Aaron Burr had mowed him down in that duel.

On the plus side, I will probably not have to go back to a gas station until August.