No Stops

If there is one thing that my closest friends know about me, it's that I absolutely HATE making multiple stops. I don't want to stop here for pizza, there for gas, over yonder for gum and double-back for craft supplies. I'm a VERY efficient person and the thought of making an extra stop for something extraneous drives me entirely bonkers.

It's not that I don't like running errands. I do. Errands give me purpose. But I only enjoy doing so when it is done in the most efficient way possible. I don't like to waste time by taking round-about routes and running around simply because we haven't sat down to think about the proper way to get everything we need with the fewest amount of stops.

I hate multiple stops for SO MANY REASONS. Parking drives me nuts. Circling around town seems ridiculous. I hate starting and stopping my car. It's downright irresponsible to bop to and fro without a clear PLAN of where you're going. What a waste of time!

So tonight, Claire came back into town, and I jumped at the chance to hang out with her. She's got five days, and I wanted to take full advantage.

But this does not include multiple stops.

(You know that movie where that woman goes insane over wire coat hangers? Me either, but it's a thing. Anyways, that's how I feel about multiple stops. "NO MORE MULTIPLE STOPS!")

I ran to the gym for a half-hearted workout before speedracing over to Claire's. We chatted and then decided on going out for food. It should have been an easy chain of errands, but Claire made the mistake of letting me drive.

We picked up our food before I noticed the needle on my gas gauge falling precariously close to the E side of things. We had to run one more place and I absent-mindedly mentioned to Claire that my gas was low. She was all "Just stop for gas! There's a station like a block away!" and I was all "UGH! Extra stops!" So we proceeded to go to the grocery store and then back to Claire's at the quiet pace of an asthmatic snail in my car. I was desperate to avoid the inevitable "LOW GAS" light because all that meant to me was "EXTRA STOP." As the car crawled into Claire's driveway, she sighed and was like "Good lord. You could have just stopped for gas. It would have taken 5 minutes."

But, see, what Claire and a million other people don't understand is that making extra stops is like caving in to the relentless demands of others. I don't WANT to stop for gas or diet Coke or gold sequins when I don't have plans to do so, so if I have to, it should be on my own time and when it's convenient for me.

After a wonderfully fun time at Claire's house discussing very important things like Snooki's weight loss (GO GIRL!) I drove back to my place at approx 4 miles per hour. It was about 2 days later when I got home and texted Claire that I had gotten home, withOUT my gas light going on. I could smell the pride from miles away. No stops on the way home. Success.