Just an Angel
Bright and shiny, the little 1995 Corsica was calling my name, “buy me, buy me”. It was the cutest car on the lot and would be our very first brand, new car in ten years of marriage. MY hubby and I were so excited. Every car that we owned prior to that was used. Even my 1982Datsan 280ZX was used, but it was an awesome car. It just didn’t have a back seat, so it had to go once kids came along. But that is another story.
We drove the car home on a hot summer’s day enjoying the ride stopping to get gas along the way. Ryan was close to three at this time and wanted to help his Dad pump gas. Little did we know that the small lesson in gas pumping would have such an effect on Ryan. A few days later it was an unseasonably warm day, so the kids were out front playing in the sprinkler. I watched out the front door every few minutes to keep track of them. They decided to wash the new Corsica for us and I felt that was safe. Sure, really safe until a three year old takes the gas cap off of the car! Ryan then proceeded to fill the entire gas tank full of water. He did this all in between the few seconds I was sticking my head out the door to watch them.
Of course, my husband was thrilled when he got home. He had to take the entire gas tank off of the car to drain it. The problem was that wasn’t the worst of it. The temperatures were well over a 100 degrees and Ryan had managed to fill in the entire back seat full of water as well. By the time we figured out what had happened, it smelled like something died in there.
We learned a good had lesson that day. Always invest in locking gas caps for all the cars.
Michele Peterson-Rufener
Michele Peterson-Rufener is Secret Laboratory’s Home & Health Editor. Michele is a former advertising sales representative and a freelance writer; she is currently seeking a degree in marketing and is a columnist for Examiner.com. Read Michele’s blog at http://happyblonde.wordpress.com/.
Email Michele at michele@secretlaboratory.org.
