1 Happy St

I'm at the Citgo by my house last night. It's about 7:30. I'm by myself, pumping gas, minding my own business. A stranger approaches.

"Excuse me Sir," he says. "I hate to bother you, but I'm in kind of a tough spot. This is really embarrassing, and I hate to do this, but I left my house this morning in kind of a rush and I forgot my wallet."

"Oh no," I think out loud, for one because that's a tough break for this guy, but also because I know what's coming.

"Again, I really hate to do this," he says. "But if you could spare a couple dollars, I would really appreciate it. I'm out of gas, I live about 15 minutes away, and I just need enough to get me home."

These are the types of moments that define us I guess. What if I was in a similar situation? I don't think I would ever be, but that's not really the point. The point is, fate has made this poor guy forget his wallet, and fate has put me here to help him. I couldn't turn him away. So I pull out a five dollar bill from my wallet.

"Here you go," I say.

"Oh, bless you Man," he says. "I really appreciate this."

He goes inside the store, presumably to pre-pay for his $5 worth of gas.

As I continue to fill my tank, I watch him inside the store out of the corner of my eye. I think to myself that I don't want him coming back asking for something else, and I remember feeling bad that I was actually thinking this. What kind of person am I? But then I notice something. He's inside the store staring back at me. Now I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. Who is this guy? Why is he staring at me through the window? Why doesn't he just pay for his gas and move on? Does he want something else?

I hurriedly finish filling my tank and I get inside my car. I peer up towards the store to take a peek. Whew, he's not staring at me anymore.

Oh my goodness, he's standing at the instant ticket Lottery machine. You have got to be kidding me. He was staring at me because he was waiting for me to leave so that he could buy a ####### Lotto ticket.

Twice in two minutes, I find myself in a defining situation. Now I have to decide whether or not to confront this guy. On the one hand, I know full well what I am capable of in these situations, and this makes me comfortable. On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea what this other guy is capable of, and this makes me not so comfortable. Plus, he looks like O-Dog from Menace II Society, and that guy didn't give a #### about anything. Then I think of Jill, and how if she was in the car with me, there would be no way I'd get out, and probably no way that she'd let me.

So I drive away, pissed that I had $5 stolen from me, pissed that I knew who did it, pissed that I did nothing about it, and pissed that I had been taken advantage of.

Then again, I wasn't killed over something so trivial. Maybe this guy was prepared to kill me if I had turned him away. Maybe this guy actually was O-Dog. Maybe I'm on borrowed time from now on, and all it cost was $5.