Driving on an empty tank

I like to travel for my work even if it’s just a short distance and I really enjoy going to Quebec City. I had the opportunity to do just that a couple weeks ago to go meet with clients and assist at an event as a social media manager.

I was, as usual, ready… except for one thing. I had just bought a new pair of indoor boots and hadn’t had the time to break them in beforehand. I was under the impression that the first day would be pretty stationary but I was wrong. Let me just say that walking around for two days without too many occasions to sit down is hard on the energy level, but when you’re breaking in new shoes or boots it’s even worse. I had, of course, thought about bringing a second pair of shoes, knowing that the boots wouldn’t be too comfortable the second day, but the damage had already been done, and seeing as I was in a rather formal attire, I couldn’t bring a pair of sneakers. So the second pair, although usually a rather comfortable, ended up being as excruciating as the boots I had to break in the day before.

Meeting with clients is always exhilarating. I enjoy the beauty in the differences in personalities, adjusting products and services to fit their needs to making sure they are well supported and happy with the what we offer. The work is always very gratifying, but when your feet are screaming in pain all day, you’d rather be somewhere else or at least, bare feet!

At the end of the second day, I helped dismantle the booth and had a late supper with the client I was helping that day and his assistant, then I left to make my way back home. I thought about staying another night at the hotel but all the rooms were taken and well, I don’t mind driving, plus the next day was going to be really busy for me, so I couldn’t stay another night anyway.

I left Quebec City and made my way back home, replaying the past two days in my head revisiting all the wonderful people I had encountered. Utilizing my driving time to introspect on my own accomplishments and failures in those two days, my mind also intensely focused on my burning feet because of the high heels I had been wearing for the past 2 days (keep in mind I’m a sneakers or bare feet kind of gal).

After thinking over the two days, I put on some music and sang along; it’s my way of staying awake when it’s late, dark and rainy. So, I was singing away in my car when suddenly I had a dreadful anxiety ball clench the pit of my stomach. I didn't know why until I looked at the dashboard and I saw the gas light was on. Talk about intuition kicking in!

Now, everyone knows that when the gas light comes on you can still go quite a while before you actually run out of gas, but the problem was I didn’t see the light come on, so I had no idea when it did. I took the next exit, which was in the middle of nowhere, and tried to find the nearest gas station on my GPS. Turns out, it wasn’t too bad, the nearest one was not even out of my way and all but 13 kilometers ahead. It’s 1 o’clock in the morning, it’s raining and my feet burn as if I had walked on fire all day long; I had to reach that gas station! Now, I don’t pray very often but in that moment, God was my closest friend and only ally. I got back on the highway and made my way behind a 16-wheeler hoping that the drag would help me save the bit of gas I had left and allow me to get to the gas station.

I’m happy to report that I was actually able to make it to the gas station… on fumes! When I pulled up to the pomp, my car literally running out of gas. Needless to say that I praised and thank the Lord then and there!

I have a habit of always checking the tank to make sur I have enough gas, I really don’t know why I didn’t that night, but let me tell ya, it ain’t about to happen again!

Do you have a story like this? What happened?

By Jasmine Beausoleil