I want you to save today’s post, and read it whenever anyone attempts to tell you that you’re silly or ditzy. Because I consider myself a fairly well-grounded, got-it-together type of person… and if I did this, you can’t be all that bad.

So last night I went to the gas station to fill up the ‘Stang. I was on the phone with my sister Rachel, telling her all about my future sister-in-law who was having a baby at the time (Kathryn Gabriela Keemer did eventually make it into the world last night, at 6 pm Pacific time. Rejoicing abounds). I pumped my gas, washed my windshield, and then got into the car and drove off.

And then I heard a big “KERPLUNK!”

I looked back, thinking I had hit the Mustang on the curb or something while I was turning away from the gas pump. But then I noticed, between my car and the pump, the dismembered gas nozzle and hose lying on the ground. Apparently, in my excitement about the new baby, I had driven away from the pump without taking the gas nozzle out of my tank. The noise I heard was the nozzle flying out of my tank on one end and the hose snapping away from the pump on the other!

I left Rachel on the phone, laughing hysterically, to go inside the gas station and ‘fess up. I’m not a “detach and run” kind of driver, you know. The attendant was already on the phone. I kind of looked at her and said, “Uhh, what did you want me to do about that?” while pointing in the general direction of the hose. All she said was, “Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it.” So I went back out and gingerly picked up the gas hose and nozzle, setting it neatly next to the pump. Then I drove away as quickly as I could.

For those of you concerned about the ‘Stang, the level of damage she may have sustained in the incident is yet to be determined.

Now, to prove that I’m not a total idiot, I went looking on the Web for folks like me. I Googled, “driving away with gas nozzle in tank,” and found that… okay, so I was hoping I’d find some impressive statistic about how one in three Americans has done the same thing. But all I found was a dire warning in bold font on Pacific Pride’s website: “Driving away with the nozzle still in your vehicle can result in fire or spill or explosion, which could lead to extreme damage and serious injury.” So maybe I am an idiot. But I’m an idiot basking in the grace of God—after all, I could have blown up the gas station!

So anytime someone makes you feel like you’re not the brightest light bulb in the box, just reply, “At least I’m not as ditzy as Kelsey!”

That reminds me of a silly joke… how many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb? 10—one to change the bulb, and nine to form a committee to study the matter. Ha ha!

“Remember the wonderful works God has done, God’s miracles, and the judgments God uttered.” --Psalm 105:5

Kelsey