Pumping gas

Remember the old days when you’d pull into a gas station and an attendant would come running up to pump your gas, check your oil and wash the windshield? Those were the days!

I recently found myself longing for those days after a little mishap at the gas pump. As usual, I inserted the nozzle into the gas tank and set the attachment to flow without having to hold the handgrip. And what exactly happened next I honestly can’t say, but suddenly the nozzle had popped out of the tank, and in an instant I was partly soaked in gas; my shoes, clothes, hair and – worse – my eyes.

It burned terribly. As I ran into the station, squinting as tightly as I could, the mechanic’s first words to me were, “Don’t worry, you won’t go blind.” Apparently this wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with someone who had gasoline in her eyes. Which was fortunate because he gave me some good advice that anyone who gets a surprise gasoline shower needs to know.

First, flush the face and eyes thoroughly with warm water. But whatever you do, don’t use any soap. The soap will clog your pores and trap gas residue rather than rinsing it away. Then take a long, luke-warm shower – again with no soap.

This next part I learned the hard way: Don’t wash your gas- soaked clothes in your washing machine. If you’re not going to throw them away, take them to your local laundro-mat. My washer now smells of gas, even after several cycles. I’m not sure the aroma will ever go away.

All these problems were caused with less than one-tenth of a gallon of gas. That may not sound like much, but believe me, when it goes in your face instead of in your gas tank, it feels like a gallon.

And with gas prices what they are these days, who can afford to wear even a fraction of a gallon?

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute