today i saw the first ever asian amish [amasian]. he had kids with a white amish lady and they have a bunch of amasian babies. i wonder how he happened, and i wonder if all the other amish talk gossip about him.

the newest experiment i'm testing is to only buy groceries that are on sale. that, and if something is a really good deal, then buy like 7 of them. don't you think things taste even better when you know they are on sale.

today at the amish natural food store, the only things that were really good deals were organic big bird ABCs cookies and rice dream. i opted for the rice dream. this plan makes so much sense. there are foods that i eat and foods that i don't eat. i think this will also make me expand my horizons and try new things. i'm excited about it. grocery shopping will then be less of a choice, i buy the things i normally buy, but only when they are on sale. for example, i don't really need grapes if the plums are half off. i usually go by these rules, but i want to be more strict about it. when i have kids it'll be like LOOK KIDS MAMA MADE ICE CREAM FOR DINNER!!!!

here is what happened to me the day before yesterday. i kind of forgot this happened, maybe it was kind of a big deal:

i was driving from richmond to lancaster. and see, my gas gauge in my car doesn't really work. sometimes it tells me when i have gas, and sometimes its says i have no gas even when i do. so the gauge was either at half tank or E, so i assumed it was fine. then my car stopped working a half hour from home.

i thought, yeah whatever i'll figure it out. i've never been in a situation like this by myself, but i wasn't too worried about it. within two minutes, a big red van pulled up in front of me, and this guy came out to help me. he looked almost exactly like a pedophile. lanky, glasses, nerdy in a creepy kind of way. he was wearing the kind of uniform that a guy that fixes air conditioners would wear, like gray pinstripe pants and a light blue collared short sleeve shirt made out of really thin material. i don't know what his job was though. naturally, i left my cell phone in my jeep, and got into his van with him.

immediately he started asking me personal questions, so i asked him some personal questions too. then we got to the gas station and they didn't have a loaner gas can. so he immediately suggested we walk together over to rite aid to see if they had one i could buy. he decided 14 dollars was too expensive, so we got back into the van to find another gas station. during our 10 minute ride together, our conversation went a little bit like this:

jess: so do you do good deeds like this all the time?

red van: sometimes, if i'm having a bad day or something, i'll do something like this and help someone out. it makes me feel better to give a hand.

jess: [i approved of his answer] that's great, i'll have to pass on the good deed, pay it forward

red van: and i just can't resist a pretty face

jess: [shit, get out of the van. meanwhile we are driving down a secluded street, so i start making plans on how to fight him in case he gets fresh. this situation is exactly how kidnappings happen. girl goes missing in small town, car abandoned on side of highway]

then we got to the other gas station. at each one of these places, he went up to the cashier and said "hey my friend ran out of gas, do you have a loaner gas can?" we're friends.

so then we drove another 10 miles or something. and this whole time, i was surprisingly relaxed. for a second here and there i'd freak out, but i just reminded myself to have faith in the good of people.

everything turned out fine. he took me back to my car, filled up my tank with a gallon, i shook his hand, and was off.

so now i've been trying to decide how i want to pass on the favor. none of my ideas thus far have been very good. i figure something will just fall into my hands and i'll know that it's my chance to pay it forward.

meanwhile, i've been dancing and singing a lot when driving in my car, hoping to make eye contact with another driver. seeing someone doing something completely shameless like that often makes me feel hopeful for life. or if not that, maybe they will at least feel good for a moment.

another idea i had today was to wave and give a thumbs up to anyone who has the same car as me. lately i've been feeling a special bond with everybody in one way or another.