I'd Like To Share An Experience I Had A Few Weeks Ago. I Was Putting Gas Into My '92 Eagle Talon At A Gas Station A Couple Miles From My Home. Perhaps I Hadn't Anticipated Rising Fuel Costs, Or I Wasn't Conscious Of My Wallet Contents, But I Filled My Car With 32 Of Regular Unleaded, And I Only Had 30 On Me. A Mere Two Dollar Oversight.I Did What Any Typical Driver Would Do In This Situation: I Began Raking Beneath My Seats For Any Change I Could Find. A Chipped Fingernail, Two Packets Of Barbeque Sauce And An Unopened Piece Of Mail Later, I Had Discovered Only 98 Cents Comprised Of Mostly Pennies With A Couple Nickels Encapsulated In An Unknown Sticky Substance.I Asked The Portly Station Attendant If He Could Spot Me The 1.02 That I Lacked. He Sized Me Up While Spitting Tobacco Juice Into A Fanta Can, And Promptly Said No. I Waited For A Kind-hearted Customer To Arrive That I Could Beg From, But That Proved Fruitless After A Half Hour. Never Fill Your Tank Around 3:45 A.m., It's Asking For Doom.'How Could This Have Been Avoided?' I Asked Myself While Walking The Distance Back Home To Retrieve A Dollar And Two Cents. I Thought Real Hard And Realized That I Wanted Two Things To Change. First, I Didn't Want To Have To Rely On My Spotty Memory And Cash. Second, I Wanted To Be Repaid For This Fiasco, I Wanted To Get A Reward To Soothe My Ruffled Feathers.The Answer Became Simple. I'd Seen The Ads Everywhere, And Why I Hadn't Done It Before Was A Mystery. A Credit Card That Features Cash Back On Gas Purchases. Several Companies Offer Them With A Cash Back Reward Of About 5 On Any Money Spent On Fuel.I Did The Math While Attempting A Shortcut Through A Golf Course. 5 On My 32 Purchase Was 1.60. Combined With The Sticky Change I Had Mined From Beneath My Seats, I Would Have Able To Pay For The Fuel And Even Thrown In A Half Gallon Of Generic Iced Tea.I Realized Shortly After, While Walking Across The Fairway On The Scenic And Lovely 14th Hole, That The Rewards Aren't Typically Instant. This Information Only Had Me Down For A Moment Or Two, Because I Realized That If I'd Had A Gas Rewards Credit Card From The First Day I Had A Car, The Cash Back I Could Have Amassed Over Time Would Have Been Easily Enough To Pay For The Entire Tank. Maybe Two.I Got Home At 5:54 A.m., Pawed Through My Change Jar And Took What I Needed. A Police Officer Stopped Me While I Was Walking Back To The Gas Station, And Was Kind Enough To Give Me A Ride Back. I Paid The Bill, Drove Back, Immediately Went To Bed As The Sun Was Rising, And Dreamt Of Fuel-beneficial Credit Cards And A Better Pair Of Shoes.
