I guess this was my day for Antimustachian encounters. After my somewhat surreal visit to McDonald's this morning (see other post), I stopped at my local dairy store/gas station for a half gallon of milk to make yogurt. As I drove past the pumps to a parking space, I noticed a young woman pumping gas into an older, somewhat beat up SUV. There was a puddle under the car (near her, not at the front where it would be A/C water) and liquid was obviously dripping as she pumped. I got out of my car and walked toward her, got her attention and then told her that I thought her gas tank might be leaking. "Oh, I know," she said. "It's just a little leak in my gas line."
Yowza! I can appreciate that replacing a bad gas line is probably expensive but what about the cost of all that gas that she's leaving in her wake everywhere she goes? I quickly got my milk and when I left I drove by the pump. She'd gotten $20 worth of gas, about 5-1/2 gallons. The gas puddle had spread until it was a foot or more wide and 3 or 4 feet long; I wouldn't call it a small leak. I don't know enough about car anatomy to know if the tank could completely empty via the gas line while the car is just parked overnight, but I'm guessing it could. The car was off and parked while she pumped the gas and it was leaking like a sieve. She's surely leaving a trail of $3.70 gas everywhere she drives it. And I have to believe that driving a gas-leaking vehicle has got to be at least a little dangerous to boot.
