That's happened to me a couple of times. Once by leaving the lights on, the other because of a weak battery, while the engine was still running. The speedometer was fluctuating wildly and cut off while I was in a line to get gas at Costco. The attendant pushed me out of the line, and a few minutes later, they closed. I was pissed.
I heard of this thing that you plug into the cig lighter to "jumpstart" from inside the car. I only glanced at it in a car mag. Has anyone ever used a thing like that? Just curious.