Convenience

It's funny some things that you miss when they aren't around. Tonight @ around 8 p.m I was thinking that I miss convenience stores. You know those places where you can go in and buy a gallon of milk, a cup of coffee, a pinwheel and a full tank of gasoline. Especially that last item: the gasoline. I have milk in the refrigerator, there is (instant) coffee in the cupboard, I don't really need or want a pinwheel, but I was almost out of gas and there isn't a gas station in my town. The closest gas station, which is by no means a convenience store, is about 11 km (6.5 miles) down the road. This time I wasn't on the south side of empty, but there have been times when I wasn't sure I was going to make it to the station without winding up with an infamous "pana de tonto", aka "the dumb man's breakdown". My trip to the gas station was not very convenient but I did remember to be thankful for a vehicle to drive and the ability to fill it up with gas. Sure, it would be nice to have a gas station closer and even a "real" convenience store in the area, but if there were I would probably forget to appreciate the convenience anyway.