People at gas stations, really?

[twodog max]

More rude behavior that has been happening more around here is people putting a loaded cart into a checkout line then walking away to go do more shopping or to the restroom or who knows what. I have had that happen twice in the last week.
I am now in the loaded cart moving out of the way. If it is unattended it is abandoned. My new personal policy.

 

[Inusuit]

As my wife says with some regularity, people suck.

 

[duman444]

Can't back up

I fill up at Cosco at 6AM, so I do not see this anymore. However when I was filling after work when Cosco is busy, there are 3 pumps per side and the farthest pump from the end is unoccupied. There will be 4 cars in line waiting on the 1st and 2nd pump to clear, so they can fill up. I am the guy who goes around and backs up to the pump on end. Sure I get mutters from others, but Ford put reverse on my truck for a reason.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Rudeness and kindness are choices.

Choose wisely.

 

[tlawler]

I don't know if it's a local, regional or national trend, but many of the stations around here have the little monitors that play various advertisements with blasting sound.

Over 30 years of reading cases has taught me that there are two places that the ordinary person needs to keep their head on a swivel—the gas station and the ATM.

It is virtually impossible to maintain any sort of auditory situational awareness with those damn monitors blasting some idiotic advertisement.

After having a ner-do-well approach me from behind because I could not hear him, I have taken to simply getting back in the vehicle and locking the doors. That is probably the best policy anyway.

I used to put duct tape over the speaker before someone showed me that the second or third button down on the right side of the monitor(depending on the pump) mutes the audio. I hated those things…full volume blasting at you.

 

[30-30remchester]

It is called lack of manners and selfishness. What people do in cars they would never do anywhere else. Just this morning a pickup roared around me as the 4 lane went to two lane and then had to stop to make a left hand turn not 100 yards after passing me. Those gas pump sitters are particularly annoying here in the little towns where there are never enough pumps as it is. As bad as they are, there are worse things. It is a hobby of mine to count the cars backed up behind one person who refuses to go the speed limit and though not in any hurry he sure is not going to pull over and let anyone by. Often there are over 100 cars backed up, but the all time record was last year when a Subaru wagon had 337 cars backed up. I was going to mention bicyclists who refuse to pay there way in the world, who have a bike lane I paid for but refuse to use them and are instead ride in the road, who's license plates and tail lights cant be seen on their cars because they have bicycles on racks, and who can now , at a stoplight pull ahead of all waiting traffic and be at the head of the line, and who now in Colorado can legally run stop signs and stoplight . But I wont mention that as it will get my blood pressure up.

 

[NYlakesider]

As a gear head I started my education in gas station idiocy when I was about 13 as a gopher. I hung out with the older guys and many times I pumped gas, poured in oil, checked tires so the other guys could keep working.

When I was a apprentice pipefitter I also worked at my buddies speed shop garage we had 2 sets of uncovered pumps there. Let me tell you with that as a background I think I have seen just about everything. Some being just stupid, others being a bit dangerous to some being very dangerous. The gas crises of 1973 was very interesting!

I have many tails I could tell but this one is one of the better ones. It was about 7.30 pm in the warm weather and we were getting a super heavy duty rain storm. (gully washer)

Had no gas customers but in the middle of the worst part of the storm a car comes into the pumps. I put on a heavy raincoat and hat and go out to the pumps. Asked how much gas do you need. The reply was Oh I need no gas just directions to this one location. Astounded I asked again yep no gas just directions. Now people that only want directions park their car in a out of the way spot and come in the office, not make someone come out to the pump island.


I kept my temper in check and told him that one road was closed but drive this way and it will get you there. Of course I sent him a 180 degrees in the wrong direction. About a hour later just before I was closing for the night he came back real mad and told me I sent him way wrong by many miles. He had to come back this way to get to where he was going. Told him he got the directions he deserved and why.

Told my buddy the next day what happened and he laughed and said I handled that better than he would have done.

Gas station time is sort of the dry land version of going to a boat launch and watch the show!

 

[03hemi]

The bride and I have been doing some traveling lately, nothing serious or long and along pretty much the same interstate which means we gas up in the same 2 or 3 places coming and going.

It might just be in my neck of the woods of Western Kansas but we get travelers from all over the U.S. Tell me why people do these things at a gas station/convenience/fast food store on the interstate. In our area, these places are busy a majority of the time during the spring and summer when people travel most. It makes no sense aside from pure laziness.

People pull up to the gas pumps, pump their gas, clean their windshield, return the nozzle to the pump and then go inside and shop, go the restroom. All the while their vehicle is blocking the pump so no one else can get gas. All they would have to do at this particular station is pull ahead 20 feet into a store front parking place which are nearly always open but NO that would be too easy. If you pull up behind one of these people you expect them to fill up and pull out but noooo, they have to use the #6 pump for a personal parking spot under the canopy.

Then there are those who pull up, get the pump going and head into the store. The pump shuts off with the familiar "click" before they even hit the front door of the store and they are no where to be found for quite some time. I guess they think it is better than the first example since the nozzle is still in the gas filler of the car even though it has long been shut off. Eventually they return and act like they can't believe the car is full already. Duh

We have had a Subaru for 5 years now and it took a while to get accustomed to the gas filler being on the right side. OK, I get that but why can't people figure out which side to have next to the pump to fill it up. I have watched people pull in with the left side to the pump only to find the gas filler on the right just to spin around the pump and you guessed it, the fill is still on the wrong side.

Lastly, and this happened on today's trip. There isn't an abundance of room for vehicles between two pumps and for some reason people want to test how far the pump hose can reach by keeping a 10 foot distance from the pump. So I pull in and barely have enough room to let my wife out on the pump side and I am holding my door and squeezing out to keep my door from hitting his car.

OK, I am done. Surely I am not the only person who sees this happen?

You have too much time on your hands to get so upset over something so trivial? lol

 

[waffles]

My favorite gas station thread was the one where it was a plot by Prius drivers to block the diesel pumps, inconveniencing diesel pickup owners.

Someone walking into the convenience store for a couple minutes after filling up can be annoying if all the other pumps are full, but if that's the most annoying part of spending $80 for a tank and dealing with the people hanging around the gas station, so be it. Not going to get worked up over it. If there are other empty pumps? Couldn't care less. Go in, get some coffee, chat up the cashier, use the bathroom, get more coffee, have fun with it.

 

[Bekeart]

Lawn Service Crew BLOCKS four pumps.

Saw this in Paris Tennessee some years ago,
During early morning hours.
Lawn Service truck and trailer full of equipment pulls down the center of the lane and parks - BLOCKING FOUR PUMPS.

Crew bails out. (appear to be life long Tennessee born Red Neck variety)
Two start filing mower on the trailer, Long Hoses made it work.
Two more go to the other blocked pumps with gas cans to fill,
Not sure if an gas went into the truck.

This was not good advertising to other customers waiting for gas.
Truck was well marked with COMPANY NAME and Phone Number.

 

[DWalt]

FWIW, by chance anyone actually LOOKS at Their GAS GUAGE in their dash there is a little gas nozzle showing WHICH SIDE their gas fill port is located.

And I remember some cars which had the fill port in the center, under the rear license plate. I always wondered why different auto manufacturers put fill ports in different locations? Sort of like wondering why there have to be so many different sizes of oil filters? Seems to me like maybe two or three sizes would fit every possible need.

 

[NYlakesider]

And I remember some cars which had the fill port in the center, under the rear license plate. I always wondered why different auto manufacturers put fill ports in different locations? Sort of like wondering why there have to be so many different sizes of oil filters? Seems to me like maybe two or three sizes would fit every possible need.

Many times its due to where the exhaust systen goes. One side gets the exhaust, it depends on how the manifolds are configured.
weather it be right or left. The gas tank then goes in the other side.

 

[GaryS]

So, she doesn't read this forum?

I had no idea that Ruthie was in Kansas.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I asked my oldest granddaughter about this. She has been working at a large, busy Kroger fuel station south of Dayton for almost a year. She says civility is the norm not rudeness. She says that here lately the most vocal grouches are those who think that she personally has something to do with the gas prices.

 

[Greyman50]

Rectal Optosis is another Big problem….

 

[Rustyt1953]

So, she doesn't read this forum?

Yes, she does. She's a good sport.

Bless her heart.

 

[Doug M.]

It's just another example of Spoiled Brat culture. The longer I live, the more annoying I find it to deal with most people. The general answer for me is to avoid most businesses and other places where people are indecisive and inconsiderate. I don't go to movies, holiday celebrations or any of that stuff. Why do that when I can stay home and avoid all the annoyance?

About the only places I go where I do not run into that kind of conduct are my gym and my range. There is a message in there, I think.

 

[Rustyt1953]

My business card.

 

[coltle6920]

Doesn't seem to be an issue where I gas up. There's plenty of pumps and plenty of space. Being retired means I can plan my trips around the times when stations are their busiest.

Murphy's Law... If time spent is important to you when you are out and about then surely you will find something to be annoyed about.

 

[twodog max]

I live in a rural area and the closest gas is in a small town with not many choices for fuel. The highways are major tourist routes so courtesy at pumps and in grocery stores is related to how close to home people seem to be.
When I travel I try to be very careful of the locals and be courteous. I want to pass through unnoticed.