[AT] Stupid Stuck - and a Lesson or Three Taught and (Hopefuly) Learned.

[STEVE ALLEN]

About 20 years ago, one of the local gas companies delivered LP to my neighbor during a very wet spell.  The young driver backed off the driveway so he didn't have to drag the hose so far (the tank was not that far away; my neighbor was an ex-driver for the same outfit).

Of course, he buried the rig to the axles in the mud, and they had to go through the expected hassles to get him out.  The result was a deep set of wide ruts in my neighbor's yard.

After, the gas was pumped, the driver made a move to get in his cab as my neighbor--well into his 60s at that time--grabbed a shovel to try to minimize the damage.  I grabbed the driver and told him he was NOT going to leave those ruts while his older customer was handling that shovel.  I took the shovel and handed it to the kid; to his credit, he started to fill in the holes without too much fussing.  I helped, too, but I wanted to make sure the kid realized that he had a responsibility there.

I hope he learned not to be so lazy about walking the hose to a tank, about getting off the driveway, and about cleaning up after himself.

The "original" Steve Allen