I’m an educated woman in my 70s who is generally pretty capable. When we bought our first hybrid car, I actually read the owner’s manual and noted the importance of never allowing the car to run out of gas.

During the recent Memorial Day holiday, we enjoyed a day trip to Mt. Hood. On our return, I realized my car was down to its last gallon or two of gas, and knowing it was a holiday weekend, I stopped for gas along the way back. I decided to just get a gallon or two of gas to assure we’d make it back to our home in Lake Oswego. Using the self-serve pump, I noticed the gas pump nozzle didn’t fit into my gas tank as smoothly as usual, but I got my 2 gallons of gas and proceeded back onto the freeway.

About 2 miles later, all of the warning lights flashed on my dashboard. I moved the car to the right lane and onto the emergency lane just as the car slowed and stopped. I remembered to turn the car off and turn on the emergency flashers, then called AAA for help. Due to the holiday traffic and the fact that we were three people in our car, I was told it would take a large tow truck with room for us all, which could take longer than usual. As I talked with the AAA dispatcher, I wondered whether turning the car back on would “fix” the problem. He said it might be worth a try, so I turned the car back on and found that everything seemed to be in order, so I suggested we just head home and have the car seen by our local, trusted mechanic. The dispatcher said fine, but to call back if we needed help. With that, I drove the remaining 8 miles home without further, obvious issues.

As we emptied the car of our hiking poles, jackets, etc., I picked up the receipt for the gas purchase and noted it was much higher than the sign at the station indicated. That’s when I noticed that the receipt was marked as my having purchased 2 gallons of diesel fuel. That worried me, so I did what everyone does when confounded these days: I went to my computer to Google “what happens when you put diesel in a car by mistake.” Shockingly, it said to NOT drive the car at all, have it towed instead, otherwise grievous danger could happen to the car, including the potential of needing a new catalytic converter, fuel pump, fuel injectors, spark plugs, even replacement engine. THAT certainly shook me up, knowing the potential cost of it all. I called AAA back, and they towed my wonderful but now precarious 2016 Prius to our mechanic, whose station was open until 8 p.m. that Sunday night. We knew they’d not be able to look at the car until after the holiday, so I suffered an extra day fraught with anxiety about whether I’d “killed” my car, even dreaming that night that my husband had decided to leave me for being so stupid. (Dreams do seem so real at the time, and my dear husband is not the kind of spouse that criticizes his wife, even when it might be appropriate!)

Fortunately, two days later, my car was ready to go. Yes, it cost a lot to have the fuel lines and tank drained and new spark plugs, but I did not need all the expensive replacement parts that I feared might be needed. And I learned two valuable lessons: diesel fuel always has a GREEN handle on the nozzle at the gas pump, and there is a big benefit to not using self-service pumps: Gas station attendants are trained to know how to avoid such stupid, costly mistakes.

Corinne Spiegel is a Lake Oswego resident.