Mon 29 Aug 2005
Among the many errands I had to run at lunchtime today (I’m too sore to work out anyway) was getting gas and a car wash. For both, I went to a local Shell station. I pulled up behind a truck using the 2nd pump and waited for my turn. The car at the 1st pump in front of the truck finished and left. Before the truck could finish gassing up and leave, however, a beat-up car pulled up into the 1st gas pump and blocked the truck. Subsequently, a van pulled up behind me to wait its turn at the pump, so I had nowhere to go.
The man who drove the truck in front of me walked up to the guy in the beat-up car and altho I could not hear him, I could tell by the gesturing that he was telling the front guy to back his car out because I had been waiting behind him for my turn. The front guy looked toward me and ignored truck guy and walked into the building to pay. The truck guy turned and met my eyes, shook his head at me, then followed the front guy into the building. There was another altercation, more heated, between the two outside the building as front guy walked out to go back to the pump. Truck guy went back into the building presumably to get an employee.
Then front guy walked up to my car. I lowered the window. “Can you move your car to let the gentleman in front of you out?” he asked me. WHAT?! “Are you parked in front of him?” I asked. He said yes. I said, “I’ve been waiting here behind him; I can’t back out, there’s a van behind me. Why can’t you go around and use the pumps on the other side?” Both pumps connected to our pumps facing the other side were UNOCCUPIED, by the way. He ignored me and started walking back to his car.
Truck guy walked out of the building indignantly with a service attendant in tow, pointing toward the beat up car and gesturing angrily. Truck guy yelled in my direction, “Don’t back out! You don’t have to!” There were more dramatic yelling and gesturing and eventually, front guy backed his car out, let the truck out, and moved back in, and I moved up to the second pump. What an ass!
I got out of the car and put my hand up to the truck as it passed me on the street, mouthing “thank you.” He waved back.
Good samaritans.
Leave a Reply