I kind of remember my own impoverished past. I remember one night I ran out of gas less than a mile from home. As embarrassing as it was I knocked at the guys door and explained my problem. I was out of gas and wanted to leave my car in his drive if I could. I was going home to get our lawnmower gas and would be back as soon as I could. The old guy would hear nothing of it. He insisted I pour his can of gas in my tank. And he wouldn't take money for the fuel. At a loss, I then asked if I could borrow his fuel can so I could refill it the next day. He agreed to that, but reluctantly. You had better believe I returned it the following day, full to the brim.
When I got home, I told my dad what had happened. He wanted to pour our gas into the guys can and take it back right then. He only backed off when I pointed out it was almost 9:00, too late for that.
In the few years following, I saw the guy from time to time (small town.) Every time I repeated my thanks for him helping me. He always said he'd help anyone who seemed to be sincere.
I now live in a fairly large metropolitan area. But one of my hobbies over the last few years has been "highway hunting". I occupy the slow lane. I'm one of those geezers!
You can have the fast lanes, and I don't speed often. But I do look for fuel cans along side the road. Weekends seem to be prime time for folks to run out.
You can't beg a can from a filling station. They will gladly sell you one for about $7, and you can fill it with $3.50 a gallon fuel. The interesting part is the fool then pours the can in his/her tank, then drives off leaving the can sit along the interstate. I'm the guy who stops to clean up the mess alongside the road. If I can get off safely, the can comes home with me. If the can looks damaged, I drive on.
I once was a rich guy. I had 6 or 7 of the big 5 gallon cans. But then my son bought a motorhome. That was almost 6 years ago. He got it in his neighborhood, and there was serious question if it had enough fuel to go the 2 or 3 blocks to his driveway. So dad swung into action. I had a fuel card from Jeep for buying a new one. I filled all the cans I had and gave them to him, full. At least there was no question that he had adequate fuel. And it didn't make it to half tank! And he kept my precious fuel cans!
But I've restocked, one at a time. I've got at least a dozen of them. But with fuel as high as it is, I'll only give away an empty can. I don't have the the generosity or the faith in my neighbors that the old guy had back in the 1960s. I might reconsider if the guy knocking impressed me as being worthy. You know, clean cut, not filthy or looking like a druggie, or driving a BMW!
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