Road Kill, Grandpa Potts, and the Shangri-Las

After I was done with carpool duty this morning, I glided into the gas station on a prayer and fumes - I have a 16 gallon tank and put in a little over 16 gallons. (And, no - I was not in my pajamas -I know that you were wondering). It was such beautiful morning and quite frankly, it turned out to be such a glorious day that I had most of the downstairs windows open all day. But back to this morning. I was done pumping gas, over to the trash can to rip my receipt up into teeny-tiny pieces (can't be too careful these days), back in my car to re-set the trip meter and then I saw him pull into the 7-11 parking lot. It was as if everything started to move in slow motion and someone cued the song by the Shangri-Las - The Leader of the Pack. Vroom. Vroom. He rode in on a shiny, black bike and you could tell that when he rode - he owned the road. I knew that I had to meet him - a mystery man who was dressed from head to toe in black leather. Black boots, black gloves, black jacket, open faced helmet with a wisp of hair peeking out. I pull my car away from the pump and drove around the backside of the pumps. Parked my car next to the "pay-for-air" pump; looked in my mirror, straightened my hair and put in a piece of gum to freshen my breath. I waited until he got off his bike and as I neared, he turned toward me and smiled (I bet he did that to all the girls).....I knew he was the right stranger to meet today. Standing face to face, he pulled up his goggles and they came to rest right above his eye brows and the clearest blue eyes were staring back at me. I extended my hand and gave him my spiel, "Hi, my name is Donna..." and he said, "My name is Fred. My friends call me Road Kill." I felt as if I didn't know him well enough to call him by his nickname so I said, "Are you heading to work today, Fred; or out for a pleasure ride?" "Actually, I am headed to the doctor's," said Fred. And I complimented him on his bike. Fred told me that it was pretty new and that "I won the money to pay for it at WinStar Casino." He continued by saying, "I have been studying which kind to get for about three years and after I won the money - I decided that I would go out and get it." I told him, "That is a great gift." And with great pride, he pointed to the Harley accessories that adorned his bike. I nodded, like biker chicks do in the movies, and said, "Nice." I knew that Fred needed to get gas and back out on the road, so I bid him "Happy Motoring", but before I turned to walk away - he asked me one more time what my name was -I gleamed back, "Donna." I got into my car and took one more glance at Fred, who was putting his wallet, that was attached to a chain, into his back pocket. I smiled. I was glad that I had not done carpool duty in my lounge pants today. OH MY GOODNESS, there is one thing that I forgot to tell you about Fred - how could I forget..................Fred was about 70 years young and he looked like Grandpa Potts (Lionel Jeffries) from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Cue the Shangri-Las...."I never forget him (the leader of the pack).