Posted 7:14 PM by John A. Seafisk

You Smell Gas, Or Is It Me?

While my car was being poked & prodded during a scheduled oil change, I decided to frequent a nearby Taco Bell establishment for lunch. When I placed my Grilled Stuft Chicken Fajita Combo order and sat down, I thought I smelt something. Something like gas.

But it wasn't the gas usually associated with Taco Bell consumption...it was a gasoline smell. Plenty of thoughts were transporting through my head:

-Was the smell coming from me?
-Was I the only one who noticed the odor?
-Was it from someone else on a lunch break from the local Chevron?
-Did a disgruntled ex-Taco Bell employee recently purposely spill some flammable liquid all over the place so he/she could set us all on fire in some bizarre act of revenge?
-Is gasoline the secret ingredient in their chipolte sauce?
-Those 3 girls sitting over there are kind of cute....hope they're not just high school age.
-I'm out of Dr. Pepper.

But, my olfactory alarm sensations were no match for my hunger pangs, so when my meal was ready, it was a Homer Simpson-eque "Can't think about gas danger...eating" situation. As someone who is not a big fan of red & green peepers, thus not a big fan of normal fajita plates, I did enjoy my grilled stuft burrito. (Yes, 'stuft', not 'stuffed'.)

After my quick gorging, and one more Dr. Pepper for the road, I left...not noticing any more gasoline odors. Did I just imagine it? Was it some kind of psychic link from my car, giving me a reminder of what it was going through while I was enjoying Mexican food? Was it from the leaking cigarette lighter of one of the cute 3 girls who neither one of them looked like they smoke, but maybe they all had a secret 2-pack-a-day habit? Was I going mad?

I soon returned to my vehicle & we hit the road. Turned up the Frank Zappa on my CD player as we merge onto the interstate. Maybe the whole gasoline incident was really nothing. Just to be sure, I listened intenty to Frank.....and heard no gasoline songs.