Jill's Gas

The other day I was thinking of a funny story from my past. I almost wrote "my childhood" but then I realized that I was probably 24-25 years old. I told Andre this story and he thought it was funny and it brought other stories to mind. Those stories made me realize that I am a bossy person. Many of you have already realized this and are nodding. The thing is- I always try to put my bossiness in a different light. For example, I tell myself that it is not being bossy- I am just helping them etc... (It is still bossiness). Maybe it is because I am the oldest girl in my family and I felt it was my duty to tell everyone younger than me what to do. I remember countless times being told by my very patient parents that I was not the mom of the family.

Another bit of background information before getting to the story. My dad is the most wonderful dad in the whole world. Every day of his life from the first frost to the last frost, my dad would go outside very early in the morning and defrost the cars for whoever was leaving that morning. He would scrape the frost off and turn on the heat in the car so you would not have to be freezing for too long. He was also known for filling your tank with gas if he noticed it was low. All the cars were his while we were in high school even though he had to share them with his many children- but even when we came back to live with him with our own cars we would be surprised with gas occasionally. So this is the background of the funny story.

Remember when I said I was bossy? One day when I was talking to my sister Jill who must have been around 16-17 years old. I can’t remember exactly when this happened. It might have been when I moved home right before I was married. I was used to taking care of my car- and I know Jill was older than driving age. The topic came up that Jill had never filled a car with gas. I was amazed by that and said that she MUST learn. In my bossiest voice, I said that I would teach her right then. The night before I had noticed that my tank was almost empty so this would be a great time. She did not want to because it was kind of intimidating for her. In my even more bossy voice I said that she had to. I would be there to help so it would not be a problem (and I would be paying for my own gas). So we went over to the gas station and I told Jill to get out and get started. She really did know how, she just had never done it. She said, “Janelle, it is not working it is just clicking and stopping.” I said to try it again, I knew it would work, she must be doing it wrong. Well it kept stopping and I got out and tried it. It wouldn't work for me either! (I am sure at this point Jill was saying “I told you so!” but not out loud- she is too nice.) The car was acting like it was full of gas! I went back to look at my gas gauge that had said empty the night before. It was full! Immediately I knew my dad had filled it. So much for my far superior gas filling ability. Then we had to pay for the 37 cents worth of gas that had made it into the car. I had been prepared to pay for a full tank so I only had my checkbook. I had to write a check for 37 cents.

Andre told me that his favorite part of the story was the fact that I went to get gas and did not even look at the gas gauge. I told him that I did look at the gauge- it was the night before and I was not used to “gasoline fairies” filling the tank. Currently- I am frequently surprised by the “low fuel” light coming on in my car even though I drive it every day. Andre is amazed by that because he knows how much gas there is in my car even though he drives it once or twice a week.

I am still bossy. It is just a little bit more acceptable because I AM the mom of the family. I get to tell everyone what to do. And the funny thing is that the other day Jaxon was telling Tanner what to do and I told him that he was not the mom of the family.