Running Out of Gas

I was driving my Ford Bronco around town with my girlfriend, we made a couple stops for me, a couple stops for her and then we were back on campus heading back to her dorm. My fuel gauge told me I had between 1/8th and 1/4 of a tank, and that tank holds 32 gallons, so I was operating under the understanding that I had 4 or more gallons of gas.

My car, I believed, got a dastardly 10 miles to the gallon and so I figured I had 40 miles remaining. What I soon found out was that I had about a quarter mile remaining.

I was about a third of the way into campus (it's not a very large campus) when I realized that my car was beginning to lurch and hiccup (the kind of hiccuping where surprising it just won't help). I ease off and then back on the gas and for a moment things seem fine.

It's only fine for a moment more and it dawns on me that the car is running on empty, or at least very near to it, so I head for the parking lot and hope to roll down the hill into it with enough velocity to not stop in the middle of the street and maybe even glide into a parking spot. 

Well, I did avoid stopping in the middle of the street, but I was only just able to get into the parking lot. Spots were empty all around me but in my 2 ton car, I wasn't going to be able to just stick a leg out of the car and skateboard it into a spot. I put my blinkers on.

So, instead I first see if my girlfriend can push the car while I steer into a spot (she's a pretty strong girl and pretty confident in herself) but alas, we rolled in the wrong direction a few inches before I realize it was futile to have her keep straining against it - like trying to get an ant to push a person over (ants are incredibly strong but it just isn't going to happen).

Now I give it a shot and the thing just won't budge. I'm pushing and pushing and I can't get the thing to move much at all.

My girlfriend puts the car in park and runs back to her dorm to see if she can get some guys who hang out there a lot to come out and help give me a push. While she's gone a guy in a Volvo pulls up and asks what the problem is (the first of about five cars that passed me to say anything). I explain the car's out of gas and I need help to get the thing moving. He acts as if he'll help, he hangs out for about a minute and then he just takes off - so that fell through quick.

A lot of people at this point are in classes still, so about five minutes later my girlfriend shows up with three of her suite-mates/friends coming up the walkway to the car and I begin to wonder if we'll get this thing rolling much better with them - because they don't look exactly built like lumberjacks.

But I have hope nonetheless and my girlfriend and the three girls she got try giving the car a push while I steer. I'm steering because I'm most used to the car and so I can direct it as need be without too much wasted effort.

The car remains stationary as the girls push and I'm getting pretty annoyed at the car at this point. We decide to exchange me and my girlfriend - I push and she steers.

Finally the car begins to move. Success! We push and we push and it gets rolling and we build up a momentum that a turtle would be ashamed of. Even so the car is going and we start to decide where to park it. 

The closer spots are visitor-only and since we are finally able to move the car, we decide to bypass all the visitor spots and go an extra 50-ish feet to another spot. Since we're going painfully slow, it becomes positively exhausting after 20 or 30 feet and I begin to weaken my push a bit and until I stop for a breather.

The car rolls back a tad but my girlfriend hits the brake and I catch my breath while I'm sure my car-pushing-helpers are relieved to have a moment too. 

They really want to get it over and done with so together we push again and we get it rolling, though there's a slight incline and it becomes a little tougher. 

As we close in on the last 10 feet, after several people passed us by, two young women offered their help and together we got the car into the spot. There was barely enough surface area on the back for all the helping hands but we managed and it was all thanks to the power of all those helpful young women, the ones my girlfriend got (who I later gave small trinkets to in thanks) and the ones who just saw someone in need.

In the end all of my helpers rejoiced in their herculean strength, proud of the feat they accomplished. I was glad for their help and that I wasn't going to be ticketed for leaving my car unattended in a non-parking spot.

10 minutes after we got the car into a spot, it began to pour so I was also glad that we were done and back inside before that extra obstacle!

Later I got a one gallon fuel canister that I've now made use of two extra times (those stories I'll have to tell another time).