when gene sees dr. stanpole's car running, what does he think about doing?

Gene considers stealing Dr. Stanpole's car to take his mind off of things.

Here is the quote,

Dr. Stanpole’s car was at the top of it, headlights on and motor running, empty. I idly considered stealing it, in the way that people idly consider many crimes it would be possible for them to commit. I took an academic interest in the thought of stealing the car, knowing all the time that it would be not so much criminal as meaningless, a lapse into nothing, an escape into nowhere. As I walked past it the motor was throbbing with wheezy reluctance—prep school doctors don’t own very desirable getaway cars, I remember thinking to myself—and then I turned the comer of the building and began to creep along behind it.