Mike’s Corner: You gotta love a small town

By Mike Wagoner
Reader Contributor

I live out in Sagle and, when I’m leaving Sandpoint, I sometimes stop at the Chevron station to get a sixer of PBR and, if needed, fossil fuel. A couple weeks ago I stopped and paid for both… talked a little with the girl behind the counter… went out to my rig… got in and drove off. I was pretty much across the bridge when it occurred to me… I spaced gettin’ the gas. Well, days passed before I went into town again. I got some groceries and just as I was approaching the Chevron I remembered… the gas. I went in, talked with a different lady behind the counter and told her what had happened. She came back with, “So… that was you. We’ve been wonderin’ if you’d ever show.” I told her how much I had paid for the gas the other day and she said, “That’s right… we’ve got a note upstairs stating the same amount.” She called up to the manager, he came down with the cash, handed it to me, I handed it to the cashier across the counter, went out and pumped the gas. Probably about halfway across the bridge it dawned on me… I forgot the six pack. I smiled and said to myself, “I’m surprised she didn’t remind me.”

You gotta love a small town… Sandpoint has changed some since the ’70s, but sometimes it still feels the way it used to.