Gas and Grass

Well, we had a gas leak today. Sometimes, I think I'm so airheaded--pay attention to my thought process here.

I was seeding and fertilizing the front patch of dirt, and every time I passed the end of the house, I could smell gas. So, I walked up to the gas line and sniffed around. Hmmm. Definitely gas. Of course, I immediately thought, "Dammit, I've been paying for gas that I haven't even used." It didn't cross my mind at all that this is a dangerous situation. I was just irritated that I had to pay for gas that has been spewing into the air. Then, I began to think that might be normal. I sneaked over to one neighbor's house and sniffed around her gas line. Nope. Nothing. I sneaked over to another neighbor's house and sniffed his gas line. Nope. Nothing. The people across the street who don't speak English were watching me as though I were a crazy lady. I see why.

Now, I do realize that smelling gas is not normal, but I tried to rationalize it because I was fully aware that this could create a host of other problems and an unpleasant situation. Finally, I called the gas company. Four times. Because I didn't deem this an emergency and didn't want to report it as a gas leak because that sounds pretty serious, and I tend to jump to extremes. After finding that customer service is closed on weekends, no matter how many times one tries to call them, I was forced to resort to the gas leak emergency line. Groan. I told the woman that I wasn't sure if one is supposed to be able to smell gas by the gas line, but I could. She became slightly alarmed and said she'd send someone right out. I told her the smell wasn't overwhelming, but it was definitely there. She told me not to light anything near it. So, I went on trying to get grass to grow, muttering under my breath that I was paying for wasted gas.

The truck arrived, and it turns out that we had not one, but two gas leaks. The men fixed them. Then, I called my husband who was extremely upset, because (now, I didn't think of this) the house could have blown up if the gas were ignited. It worried him. What did I think when he expressed his concern? Insurance covers fires, but I still have to pay for the wasted gas.