# Gas Station rage **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 23, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591 "2005-02-23T22:04:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/1 "2005-02-23T22:04:58Z")
Two separate incidents in the last week have compelled me to share. Incident #1 All spaces at the gas station are full. I’m filling up my car in one of them. Car pulls up behind me as I sit there and wait for it to fill up. Car then **honks** at me and the driver says “Hurry Up!” I point at the nozzle and hold my arms out with a confused look. Car honks again, longer this time. Other drivers shoot me looks and we all start to openly laugh. Car backs up, honks again even louder and screeches out of the gas station. Incident #2 I pull into the rear pump behind a guy filling up in front of me. Guy finishes just as I start pumping, leaves. A minute or so later a car pulls up behind me as I sit there and wait for it to fill up. Car then **honks** at me and says “Thanks for pulling forward, asshole!” This time, after a beat, I respond. “Did it occur to you that there was someone in front of me and he just left?” Driver ponders this, then says “FUCK YOU!” and backs up, races around the other side, then backs up like he’s going to ram me before jamming his brakes and getting out to pump his gas, glaring at me. I give him a confused look and shrug, finish up and I’m out of there. Sigh. We’re getting closer to the void each day. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/2 "2005-02-23T22:11:53Z")
People are such a problem! Of course, without them, I’d be out of work! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/3 "2005-02-23T22:17:40Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > People are such a problem! > > Of course, without them, I’d be out of work! And those two seem likely to be the sort to be patients of yours someday. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/4 "2005-02-23T22:20:00Z")
Damn, people need to just chill out. I can see getting mad at some guy clogging up the roadway by going slow, but who can pump gas faster than the pump wants to go? If these people were in NJ, their heads would explode. I swear it takes twice as long to get gas in NJ because you always have to wait for the attendant. It’s almost worth the extra money to get gas in NY so you can pump it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/5 "2005-02-23T22:23:44Z")
Incident #1: Holy cow! Incident #2: Damn. Just plain damn. Qadgop’s dilemma: “Hell is other people” — Sartre ---
**Author:** ![PinkMarabou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PinkMarabou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PinkMarabou)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/6 "2005-02-23T22:28:08Z")
The general public are assholes. Sorry about these instances, I wouldn’t have handled it as graciously as you. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/7 "2005-02-23T22:30:23Z")
Dude, just pour some gasoline on the ground, and while turning on your heel utter a pun related to heat, and calmy toss a single match over your shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/8 "2005-02-23T22:30:38Z")
Incident 1: Hopefully the assbag ran out of gas shortly after peeling out. Incident 2: You stood there and took that shit? :eek: One drawback to being as big as me is people don’t pull this kind of crap when I’m around. I’m still hoping someday something like this happens when I’m there to see it. It’ll be a fully satisfying fulfilling day. _OG SMASH!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/9 "2005-02-23T22:33:08Z")
It’s not a new [thing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=63380). (I think that’s the only Pit thread I’ve ever started. Feels like just yesterday.) ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/10 "2005-02-23T22:36:53Z")
Ooh, ooh! I’ve got one. I pulled up to a pump, then went to the cashier to pay, as is the custom. When I returned, a man was approaching the same pump, and I had to explain to him that I had already paid for the gas on that pump. He became enraged and said, “You’re supposed to put the nozzle into your gas tank before you pay so people know you’re using it.” I simply said, “No, you’re not.” After he left, another person standing nearby said, “What the heck is he talking about?” I saw a couple people almost come to blows once. Apparently, the one was upset because the other was taking too long, so the other decided to _deliberately_ take even more time just to be obstinate. Part of the problem is poorly laid-out gas stations. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/11 "2005-02-23T22:39:36Z")
Driver A wasn’t a short guy in a priest’s outfit driving an Alfa, by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/12 "2005-02-23T22:39:48Z")
Oh yeah - and then there was the woman who pulled out a pack of cigarettes at the gas station, and was about to light up! When I told her she couldn’t do that, she got upset because I didn’t “ask her nice.” ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/13 "2005-02-23T23:21:13Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Incident 2: You stood there and took that shit? :eek: One drawback to being as big as me is people don’t pull this kind of crap when I’m around. I’m still hoping someday something like this happens when I’m there to see it. It’ll be a fully satisfying fulfilling day. _OG SMASH!!_ Oh yes, I took it. I find it much more satisfying to stay calm and behave as though their anger is amusing. They get more agitated, I get more amused. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/14 "2005-02-23T23:47:42Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Dude, just pour some gasoline on the ground, and while turning on your heel utter a pun related to heat, and calmy toss a single match over your shoulder. “You’re fired” ---
**Author:** ![twelvericepaddies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@twelvericepaddies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twelvericepaddies)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/15 "2005-02-23T23:48:00Z")
Many people today have become VERY self-important & thus, arrogant. You can easily tell some of them because if they acquire an SUV, then they are ipso facto VERY important and must be sucked up to. God help you if you meet a BMW or AUDI driver - they make even demi gods bow down. You cannot imagine how difficult it has become to work in retail, or be a waiter or waitress. Life has probably never been more miserable and constantly unpleasant in No. America. I must say this appears to me to have started in the Reagan regime when it suddenly became popular to be VERY aggressive - even to steal your mother’s last cent if it made you a winner vs loser, or gave you some asset you desired. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/16 "2005-02-23T23:56:39Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > “You’re fired” Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/17 "2005-02-23T23:58:55Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > All spaces at the gas station are full. I’m filling up my car in one of them. Car pulls up behind me as I sit there and wait for it to fill up. Car then **honks** at me and the driver says “Hurry Up!” Not to take away from your rant, but were you sitting inside the car as you allowed the pump to fill up your tank? Just in CA you are supposed to always stand with the pump ( in case it decides to malfunction or in case you don’t get to breathe in enough benzine or something). ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/18 "2005-02-23T23:59:54Z")
> [@twelvericepaddies](#): > > yadda yadda yadda WTF are you nattering about? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/19 "2005-02-24T00:00:40Z")
> [@twelvericepaddies](#): > > Many people today have become VERY self-important & thus, arrogant. You can easily tell some of them because if they acquire an SUV, then they are ipso facto VERY important and must be sucked up to. God help you if you meet a BMW or AUDI driver - they make even demi gods bow down. Does your arm get sore when you swing that bigassed brush around? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591/20 "2005-02-24T00:07:01Z")
The reason for not getting back into your car while the pump is filling your tank is that you could be building up a static electric charge, which if discharged close enough to the gasoline vapors could cause explosion or fire. I was at the gas station once, and one of the pumps was broken, so everyone had lined up to take turns. It was cold out, less than 0F, and everybody was trying to do things as quickly as possible so they did not have to stand outside that long. My turn was finally coming up next, after the guy in front of me finished, but some fucking douchebag in a Mercedes decided to come the other way through the row of pumps and try to take my spot. The guy who finished up pulled forward in their direction so that they had to back up and let me in. Of course, the douchebag in the Mercedes thought _I was the ass_ because I was taking my turn and not letting him go first. Well, neither of the other 2 cars that’d lined up behind me prior to Mr. Mercedes arrival let him go ahead of them either. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-station-rage/291591.md?page=2)