On Boxing Day evening, I stopped at a gas station to fill my gas tank. The big marquis sign wasn't showing a gas price but the pumps appeared to be in working order and two other cars were apparently pumping gasoline.
When I pulled into pump #9 after the previous customer pulled away, I discovered a credit card still in the machine. Pulling the stranger's card out and temporarily placing it in my pocket, I moved forward with my transaction ... inserting my own credit card.
That's when I realized my mistake: The gas pump was actually off-line, although lit up as if ready for business. More problematic, I discovered, was that my credit card was now stuck in the machine - Seriously stuck!
I hung around for quite a while, trying everything I could think of to convince the gas pump to release my card; but, to no avail. Eventually, I had to leave my card and pump gas elsewhere using spare change I scrounged from purse and car.
When my husband arrived home, he headed up to the gas station to see if he could pry my credit card from the machine, only to discover the card was not there; however, running his hand over the top of the machine - something I wouldn't have been tall enough to do - he found my card had been placed on top by another customer.
When I reached home, I Google searched the name on the credit card in my pocket and found a phone number I thought might belong to it's owner. I left a voice message on his answering machine, and amazingly received a reply from Rodney the next morning.
Rodney was easily able to prove ownership of his card, and I handed it off to him when he arrived an hour later to pick it up. He turned out to be a really nice young man, whose story about the previous evening was ironically similar to mine.
I have to wonder just how many gas patrons were stymied by that improperly shut-down gas station on Boxing Day. There were 10 pumps to choose from and every one could have been snatching and holding credit cards all evening. Luckily, at least for Rodney and I, honesty ruled the day and our credit cards made their way back to us, albeit, in different ways.
For that, I say Cheers to the honest people who showed the true spirit of the holidays and who "payed it forward," just like in the movie.
