I've never run out of gas since!

As a teenager and young adult, I had a really bad habit of driving my car(s) until they ran out of gas. It was a really stupid thing to do and I'm sure that there was probably some deep psychological issue that needed dealt with at the time but I didn't know what it was.

Anyway, around 1981, I was driving alone back from Mississippi to my in-law's home in Valparaiso, Florida. My wife (at the time) and I had just recently purchased a brand new Aries-K car and I had been under the impression that the gas tank held much more gas than it really did. Unfortunately, it was around 1:00 a.m. in the morning when I discovered that I had made a miscalculation.

I was driving south on Florida highway 20 and found myself located south of the city of Crestview. In that part of northwest Florida, highway 20 runs through Air Force property. Suddenly my new car began to sputter and lose speed - it didn't take me but a second to realize what was wrong. As I scanned the side of the highway for a good place to pull over, I noticed a forest ranger station just up ahead on the right. The station consisted of a high observation tower with a small home located at the base of the tower. I decided to park my car on the side of the highway near the station because it was well lit and it would be easy to relocate my car after getting gasoline for it.

Have you ever tried to hitchhike at 1:30 in the morning? It's really no fun. For some reason, no one wants to stop and pick up a stranger at that hour. I must have tried for an hour to no avail. As I was standing there on the side of the road, I just happened to look back at the house located at the base of the ranger tower. I quickly noticed that the lights were on and that someone was peeking out at me through the venetian blinds. I then decided to walk over to the house and try to get the residents to let me use their telephone - that was a very big mistake on my part.

As I approached the front door I noticed that no one was peeking at me anymore. I hesitantly knocked on the door but no one responded, inside there were at least two big dogs barking at me. I had a feeling though that "somebody" was standing on the other side of that door. I knocked again and then I told anyone who might be listening that I had run out of gas and needed to use a telephone to call for assistance. Still no response. I went on to talk to the door and to identify myself by giving my name and the fact that I was in the military and posed no threat to anyone.

Still no response.

As I turned to walk back to my car I noticed that a late 70's model Camaro was pulling into the driveway of the property. The driver of the vehicle jumped out and asked me what was wrong. After I explained my situation to the man he responded with "Hey no problem dude, you can come on in and use my telephone. I'm surprised my girlfriend didn't let you in."

As I was about to say something to the guy, we both suddenly heard police sirens - lots and lots of them. Can you imagine the surprise that both of us got when all of a sudden there were three military jeeps with lights blazing and sirens blaring, quickly pulling into the driveway? We just stood there in shock. As the jeeps came to a stop, two or three military policemen from each vehicle leaped to the ground and rushed us (this is way before 9/11 mind you!). Before we knew it, we had almost a dozen 45 automatic handguns pointing at us!

A small man, apparently the leader of the group, yelled toward us "Freeze! Put your hands in the air and do not move or you WILL BE shot!" - believe me, we didn't move.

"Now, I want the two of you to step forward and place your hands on the front of the closest jeep."

By then, me and the other guy were shaking in our shoes. Then as we both started to move forward, the military policeman shrieked at us "I told you guys not to move!".

Suddenly, I found myself in the twilight zone. The other and guy and I just looked at each other trying to make sense of what was going on. The thought quickly came to my mind that if one us sneezed, one or both of us would be shot. A few seconds later we found ourselves being thoroughly frisked by some of the other military personnel. I tried to explain my situation but was told to shut up and remain silent. I was so glad that they came across my military I.D. card when they did.

It didn't take the policemen long to verify that my I.D. was for real. All of a sudden the leader became receptive to my explanation of why I was there and then he had his men lower their weapons. I was relieved but my body still shook quite a bit. The other guy was in the same shape that I was and then he got real angry when he found out that his girlfriend had called the Air Force security police and told them that I was trying to break into his house.

"I'm sorry man, I don't know why she did that."

I forgave the guy, I felt sorry for him - and for us. He offered to let me into his house so that I could use the telephone. The military police offered to stay and keep an eye on me - for what reason I do not know. The forest ranger declined the offer though and sent them on their way, he and I were both very ready to see them leave. As we made our way to the front door it slowly opened. Standing just inside the doorway was the man's girlfriend.

She had a twelve inch butcher knife in her hand and two very large guard dogs standing behind her. "I'm sorry, I was scarred." she said.

I didn't know what so say in response to that. I just quickly used the telephone and called my then father-in-law. Later, as he pulled up to my car with a can filled with gasoline he was laughing very hard at me. I was still shaking though and in fact I shook all the way to his house that morning.

I've never run out of gas since that day.