No Free Lunch

I understand the term that "the best things in life are free" ~
A newborn's smile (that might be gas) ~
A close parking place when you are in a hurry (and it's NOT a handicap space)~
A bobble head of your favorite ball player..if you are one of the first 400 kids paying $44./ticket to get into the venue.
A gentle, comforting pat on the shoulder when it's needed most.

And a FREE CAR WASH WITH ANY GAS PURCHASE ~ NO MINIMUM fill up at the local gas station.
I could literally spend 1 penny putting dripping in my tank and am allowed a free drive- through car wash..."look, Ma, no hands!"

I like to have a clean car. I will get my car washed at least once every two weeks and more often than not, once a week. So when I saw a Shell gas station just 4 miles down the road offering FREE CAR WASH...NO MINIMUM GAS PURCHASE, I almost wept with joy. With gas prices hovering around $4.00/gallon, it soothed the burn that scorched my pocketbook out $53.00 price for a fill-up. I started to calculate that if I put 10 gallons of gas in my tank, I could rationalize that it actually was 50 cents a gallon less since I could use the car wash that I would normally pay $5.00 for! I was almost laughing an evil laugh at people who were using the gas station across the street and not getting a car wash, even if they paid 20 cents less a gallon than I did.

And then it happened...the statement that will haunt me forever.

"There is no free lunch."
I drove by my "cleanliness is next to Godliness" station and it had CLOSED. No gas...no car wash...no cigarettes (even though I don't smoke)...

Sigh.

I guess I will have to look elsewhere for my freebies...