Current events: The gasoline shortage Georgia, NCarolina

[Journeyman]

3. Last time gas was in short supply in California, I was stuck in a gas line for over an hour . . .

as I approached the station, cars at the curb were politely waiting until the car at the pump pulled away before they entered the station.

We were all lined up going west to east, with the station on the southwest corner of the intersection. As a car pulled away from the pump, a big Cadillac traveling north to south illegally cut across four lanes on our street to slip into the vacant pump station. As we in the line screamed at the driver, he got out, took the cap off his tank, then casually strolled to the office to put money on the pump (there were no pay stations on the pump in those days).

For a moment, I thought there'd be bloodshed, there were so many enraged people in line. But then the guy at front, with a satisfied expletive, pulled the locking cap off his own tank, strode across the lot and slapped it firmly on the Cadillac's open fuel line.

I still relish the satisfaction we all felt when that fool came back out, discovered he couldn't get the cap off, and had to sheepishly drive away. Ah, karma. You can bring both sadness and joy in equal measure.