Today’s Weekend Wisdom comes from me and it is: Don’t assume you know the way things are and if when it’s really important, really pay attention!
Doodle and I made it to Atlanta with very little excitement (though I’ll have some great tips for car travel with little ones another time!) Doodle and I stayed the night with a great friends from Dublin who welcomed their first little one seven months ago and the boys got along great.
We headed for breakfast then did a little shopping before meeting another friend from Dublin (weird, huh?) for lunch. After lunch I had about 2 hours before I was supposed to pick hubby up from the airport. I needed to fill up the car so stopped at a local station and that is when everything went wrong!
I drove hubby’s car up since it gets much better gas mileage than my new car. He has a Volkswagen Passat TDI. For those who don’t know, TDI indicates it’s a diesel engine. The first filling station I passed didn’t have diesel so I went on the, the next one had diesel on the signage so I pulled in. I looked for the telling green nozzle and pulled up.
The price was a little high and the neighborhood was a little shady so I was contemplating just getting enough and how much was enough when I began fueling. Then I noticed the price: $3.699. Holy.Shit! I quickly turned off the pump. I had put 6/10 of a gallon of regular gas in the car. There are bright yellow stickers all over the gas tank: Do not use regular gasoline! Even a small amount can damage your engine! Shit!
Hubby is a smart guy and keeps his keys on the original ring from the dealer which, luckily, clearly shows the Volkswagen Roadside Assistance number. And luckily when we bought the car the deal was very, very, very clear on the fact that we should never, NEVER, drive the car if we accidentally put gas in it. Instead, we must immediately call for help.
So I did. “Are you in a safe location?” Kind of… “What is your problem?” I explain the situation. “Where are you?” umm…good question! I don’t exactly know. Atlanta, somewhere? I had to grab Doodle and go into the station to ask for address because I didn’t even know what street I was on! Got that settled and I am told they will call a tow truck who will tow me to the nearest VW dealer. Ok, great! They’ll also text me the information for the tow company and expected arrival time. Awesome.
I get the text, the tow truck will be there in approximately an hour and fifteen minutes? An HOUR? Holy.Shit! I’m in an unknown area with an infant in a broke down car in th south in the late Spring! I call the tow company and explain the situation. I have to call back VW. I call back VW and am informed an hour is average and there is nothing they can do and then told (in a very direct way) “Ma’am, if you have an emergency, I advise you to call 911.” WHAT?!?!?!
So I wait. I was able to get a hold of hubby just before take off (“Sir, you need to turn off your phone, please…”) to let him know what happened and that I wouldn’t be there to get him. I take Doodle out of his car seat and let him play in the backseat (luckily I moved the girls’ seats into my parents’ car before we left so there was plenty of room for me to sit and Doodle to play). And I call my mom and I cry and I yell and I curse. And I wait. Atlanta traffic kind of sucks and it was 4:00 on a Friday so it was nearly 2 hours before the truck actually arrived but Doodle didn’t even notice.
He had the best time crawling around the back seat, just happy to not have to be in his car seat an thought it was so funny to climb in and out (and in. and out.) We sang songs, read books, played with toys and tried to ignore the drifters riffling through the trash right next to our car.
The truck driver called me when he was on the way and I informed him I had the baby and asked if he had room in the truck or if I should call a friend for a ride. He said he had a third seat and I asked if there were airbags which he said there were none on the passenger side. So when the truck arrived, I installed Doodle’s car seat in the middle while the driver loaded up hubby’s car.
Doodle was fascinated by the seat belt and couldn’t figure out daddy’s car being right outside the back window! He had a little snack and then fell asleep.
When hubby landed, he hopped in a cab and arrived at the VW dealership just before we did. It was an hour before closing and I explained what happened. They were unable to take care of it but gave us a loaner car and told us it would be taken care of today. It was some of the best customer service I’ve ever experienced!
So, how did this happen? Well, it’s simple really. Diesel nozzles are always green. Well, almost always. Turns out, at BP stations, regular gas is green and diesel is black. I chose the green one from the line up and luckily noticed it was wrong before filling the whole tank.
The tow truck driver was really quiet but a few minutes into the drive tentatively said “Don’t feel bad about what happened. I did it once too and had to drain my tank in the parking lot at Kroger.” The customer service reps at the dealership also told us that they see the same thing a lot with people making the same mistake at BP stations.
So it really wasn’t completely my fault, but I felt like a complete idiot. If I had paid more attention and read the signs, it wouldn’t have happened. But it’s not like I forgot or like I wasn’t paying attention. I was conscientious that I needed diesel. I looked for a station that had it and then went to the green nozzle as usual.
And at least I knew not to drive it. I didn’t even start the car to run the air, Doodle and I sat in the hot car with the door cracked just enough to circulate the air. I’m glad that I was so careful and knowledgeable because when we got to the dealer and I told them I didn’t turn it on knowing I’d made a mistake I was told “that’s good because if you had, you’d be looking a new engine.” Holy.Shit!
