Fun With Static Electricity

Remember in elementary school science class when you're learning about electricity, and you rub a balloon on your head and it makes your hair stand up? Well as cool as that is, something involving the same basic scientific principles happened to me today that surpassed the balloon experiment in every way imaginable.

First let me set the scene. It's a little chilly outside, and I'm wearing a wool suit, which as you may know is a sure-fire way to generate some serious static electricity. Usually enough to give you an unpleasant little shock when you grab a doorknob, but nothing more.

Not today.

I don't know if the weather was a just a little chillier, or if my suit was just a little woollier, but whatever it was, it somehow managed to create a perfect storm for massive static discharge.

As I began my journey from the county courthouse in the thriving metropolis of Clinton, NC to the county courthouse in the equally-thriving metropolis of Henderson, NC, I noticed my gas tank was a little low. Innocently enough I pulled into the corner BP station, stepped out of my car, and reached for the nozzle.

Then it happened.

I had somehow managed to conjure up bolt of electricity so intense that when my hand touched the metal pump, the instantaneous discharge shorted out all of the stations electrical equipment.

I shit you not. For several minutes, the station could neither provide gasoline nor process credit card payments. It was awesome (don't worry, the system just had to reset itself and then everything was back to normal).

For that brief moment, I felt like Rayden from Mortal Kombat.

Then I went back to work. And that was very un-Mortal Kombat-like in every possible way.