Today I almost ran out of gas. I say almost because I had what I thought was plenty of gas, passed the last exit for 6 miles, and came to a dead stop. I sat for 20 minutes, and the gas light came on. I sat for another twenty minutes, and started to panic a little bit. I pulled over to decide what to do.

I didn’t want to keep sitting in traffic, because if I ran out of gas I would be in a lane and if the traffic continued, a top up from the traffic guy might not be enough to get me to the gas station.

So, I pulled over, and called in the reinforcements (Courtney, who came with two gallons of gas).

This is, no doubt about it, my fault. I should never have let myself go below an eighth of a tank, and certainly not with the girls in the car. I learned a valuable lesson about car safety.

But I also learned that people are really only looking out for themselves. As I sat on the side of Route 50 in practically dead stopped traffic for 45 minutes (it started to move at the end of that time) with my hazards on, only ONE person asked me (crying, with two kids in the backseat, and the windows down) if I was alright, if I’d called for help, or if I needed anything. ONE PERSON.

And that includes the Homeland Security police officer and policeman in an undercover car, both of whom just cruised (I should say crawled) on past.

I just don’t get it. If you were sitting in stopped traffic and saw a woman with kids in the car crying, and her hazards on, wouldn’t you have poked your head out the window to be sure she was alright?

I mean…gosh.

I’m just flabbergasted. What is wrong with people?

We’re all home, safe and sound, and lessons learned. But I can’t shake this crummy feeling about humanity. I just can’t believe no one offered to help but that one man…no one.

PS: He was tattooed and in a pick up truck. I wish I’d gotten his name.