One day, I stopped at a filling station to buy fuel.
I had about GH¢500 with me, and after the attendant had finished pumping, I looked at the fuel gauge and realized that the fuel level was still lower than I expected. I therefore asked her to add another GH¢200 worth of fuel.
She proceeded to do so.
After a while, she indicated that the pumping was complete.
Ordinarily, that would have been the end of the transaction. I could have simply started the car and driven away.
But for some reason, I looked at the fuel gauge again.
Something was not right.
The quantity had not changed.
I mentioned it to the attendant.
That was when she explained that the pump was on automation and, somehow, the additional fuel had not actually pumped into my car.
I was genuinely surprised.
I thought about it for a moment and asked myself:
What if I had not checked?
What if I had simply trusted that because the pump had been activated, the fuel must have entered the tank?
What if I had driven away without noticing?
I would have paid GH¢200 for fuel that had never entered my car.
And that thought stayed with me.
Because it made me wonder about the many people who go to filling stations every day, pay for fuel, get into their cars and drive away without checking whether the quantity reflected in the gauge corresponds with what they actually paid for.
How many people simply assume that everything has been done correctly?
How many people trust the process because they believe there is no reason to question it?
And how many may have driven away, never knowing that something was missing?
I am not saying that every unexplained discrepancy is deliberate. Machines malfunction. People make mistakes. Systems fail. There can be perfectly innocent explanations for things that go wrong.
But the experience taught me something very important:
Never be so distracted, trusting or in a hurry that you fail to notice when something does not add up.
Sometimes, all it takes is one extra glance.
One question.
One decision to say, “Wait a minute. Something is not right.”
That simple act of paying attention can save you from losing something you have already paid for.
And perhaps this applies to more than fuel.
In life, people can tell you something has been done, something has been given, something has been delivered, or everything is fine.
But occasionally, you need to look for yourself.
Don't just rely on what you are told. Check the gauge.
Because sometimes, what you believe you have received and what actually entered your tank may be two completely different things.
And as for whether this was deliberate or not...
That is another story.
