The cost of not paying attention

It pays to pay attention, doesn't it? The inverse, it costs to not pay attention, is, sadly, equally true.

I stopped for gas this morning at a place where regular was $1.47 a gallon. That's the best price I was seeing, so it seemed a good time to gas up. I pulled up to a pump and prepayed twenty bucks.

Returning to my van, I began to dispense the gas into the tank. Then I stood there daydreaming. That is, if you can daydream at 4 o'clock in the morning in Kenton, Ohio.

Anyway, after a minute I looked up and saw that I was nearing fourteen dollars yet only had a little more than five gallons of gas. Math was never my strong suit, but I knew immediately that I should have had close to twice that amount by then.

And that's when I noticed that I, apparently, had hit the premium button. I was consequently paying $2.66 a gallon.

What could I do? I finished getting my twenty bucks of premium gas and went on my way. On the flip flop I discovered gas at a buck thirty five, so I fully gassed up then. And I was sure to hit the regular button that time.