On the night of December 14th, I headed out to buy KFC chicken and a 44 oz. Big Gulp just like I do every Sunday night. It was snowing, it was cold and I did two stupid things.

For one, I didn't bring my cell phone. I glanced at it on my desk, thinking I wouldn't need it for what I thought would be a half hour tour.

A half hour tour.

For another, I wore sandals, and unlike this picture, I didn't have socks on. Again, I was doing the drive thru so I figured sandals would be okay for 28 degree weather while snowing with strong winds.

Fortunately, this went right for me:

I brought a gas can.

Whenever I get a new car, I test the gas gauge. I see how far I can go on empty, occasionally running out of gas in the process, but it's worth it because having a long commute to school, I'm able to get an accurate idea of how far I can go on my tank of gas.

Someone should really tell me that I've had my car for seven months and I don't need to keep pushing the tank capacity. Especially with electronic gadgets to do that for me:

But since I still push it, it's no wonder that I ran out of gas just five blocks from home. And no surprise that I wore sandals with no socks, had no phone, and no gas in the gas can from the last time I ran out of gas.

I tried to start my car to see if there was any chance of making it to one of the many gas stations I was within a few blocks of. No dice.

Reluctantly, I grabbed my gas can and began to head toward home. The wind and snow was blowing in my face, and there was no sidewalk, so I ran along the side of the road as close as I could to the slushy street without walking in it. Within seconds, my toes burned with cold. I kept running wearing only a thin windbreaker.

I had gone less than a block when I heard a honk. I hoped it was for me. I hoped it was a friend who lived in the area. While running, I looked to the street, but saw nothing. A person honking at me maybe? Seconds later, a car made a U-turn and slowed down. They stopped and the woman asked if I needed gasoline and if I wanted a ride. Of course I said yes.

She had two children in the car. One an infant, and the other could be no older than five and he translated for his mom who spoke little english. She drove me to the gas station six blocks away, I filled up my gas can and they dropped me back off. I was extremely grateful for them and they even waited for me to fill my gas can and start my car. And perhaps the most kind thing of all was they allowed me to carry a two gallon gas can in their car. It's been ten days and I still haven't been able to get the smell out from only having it in my car for a few minutes.

Here is an actual picture of my feet and my car after the ordeal:

I'd love to say that I'm never going to do that again, but just last Sunday, I headed out into another snowstorm with guess what? Sandals, light clothes and no cell phone.

Will I ever learn?

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