Updated 10:31 p.m.

It finally happened. I have been waiting over three years for this day, and here we are. A M A Z I N G. . . . .

For those of you who don’t know, I am obsessed with LOST, the tv show on Wednesday nights (well, it used to be on Wednesdays….We’re now in an 8-month hiatus until the final season begins in February, 2010). Season 1 began with a plane crash, Oceanic flight 815, on a remote island. Throughout the series, much emphasis has been placed on that flight, on specific numbers, symbols, as well as allusions and archetypes.

So, to me it made perfect common sense to be a little more than obsessed with our local gas station, named Oceanic, and the unlikely chance that, one day, the numbers on the marquis would align just right so that the sign would read, “Oceanic 815.”

That day was today.

I first noticed it as I was driving Holland to the gym. I was a little late picking her up (traffic seems to be getting worse these days), and she was pretty upset about it. But when we drove by the gas station, I screamed in joy at noticing the numbers on the sign. Suddenly, the entire mood changed between us, and I was caught up in the possibilities of what this meant.

Sure, it was just a gas station, and few people (any? I was sure at least some people were as fascinated by this wondrous phenomenon) would notice. However, obsessions are not born overnight. They are cultivated, nurtured, so that when I drove by the sign, years and years of watching, waiting, and wondering had finally cashed in. I could snap my photo and share it with the world.

After I dropped off Holland, I parked in the lot across from the Oceanic (815) gas station and crossed the street. I snapped two pictures, one of each side (the lighting seemed a little better on the north side), and some guy yells out to me: “You know, it’s just going to go higher.”

I looked at him with incredulity. “What?”

“The price,” he said. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“Don’t you get it?” I replied, now walking toward him. In retrospect, I can understand why he started to back away a little. I think I might have chuckled a little madly, eyes a bit wide, head tilted like that guy on Law and Order.

“Don’t you see what’s going on? I’ve waited 3 years for this!”

“Waited for what?” he replied. But I could already tell he was thinking twice about starting our little chat.

I looked down at the ground, a little disappointed, I guess.

“Lost, man. Lost. Do you watch it?”

He nodded, but there was definitely some hesitation. I don’t think he wanted to be in sync with anything I was talking about.

“The numbers! 815! Don’t you see it? Look at the sign! OCEANIC 815! Isn’t that amazing?”

I think I was smiling, my eyes still a bit wide, when he turned and looked up at the sign one more time. He looked back at me, took a step back, and said: “You’re crazy, man.”

And then he walked back to his car, or his truck, or whatever horse he rode in for this chance meeting.

Really, though. As I crossed the street and headed back to my Jeep, all I could think was this: How can anybody say they watch LOST and not be touched, at least with mild giddiness, at such a cool thing as a gas station called OCEANIC sporting an 815 on their marquis?

Some people. Ugh!

(oh, and if you notice, the other numbers prominent in the show–4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42–are all linked together on the sign. Of course, you need to add 8, 4, 2, and 2 to add up to 16…..)

Obsessed? You must have me confused with somebody else… 🙂