# Man gets hand stuck in gas tank removing a Snickers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374 "2011-06-30T12:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/1 "2011-06-30T12:13:58Z")
[Article](http://www.wisinfo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011306300028) How does anyone ever think it’s a good idea to reach into a vehicle gas tank to remove something? This must have been fun trying to rescue him as they worried about a gas fire the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/2 "2011-06-30T12:50:15Z")
I have heard of candy giving someone gas, not gas giving someone candy. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/3 "2011-06-30T13:18:01Z")
sounds familiar > [@](#): > > [Homer’s arms are stuck in pair of vending machines] > Repairman #1: Homer, there’s no easy way to tell you this: I’m afraid I’m gonna have to saw your arms off. > Homer: They’ll grow back, right? > Repairman #1: Oh… yeah. > [He cranks up the rotary saw and moves it toward Homer’s arm…] > Repairman #2: Wait a minute. Homer, are you just holding on to the can? > Homer: Your point being…? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/4 "2011-06-30T13:23:09Z")
What a terrible piece of journalism. They didn’t say if the guy got his candy or not! ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/5 "2011-06-30T13:32:31Z")
The headline doesn’t say what they think it says: > [@](#): > > **Fond du Lac firefighters free man’s hand from car gas tank while trying to retrieve a Snickers candy bar** That indicates _the firefighters_ were trying to retrieve the Snickers. And it indicates it clearly, in normal usage – this isn’t the sort of error that only a Grammar Nazi would catch. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/6 "2011-06-30T13:40:06Z")
That article raises more questions than it answers. Saw a candy bar in the gas tank? How? What kind of car? Reached in? Again how and what kind of car? An unleaded fill pipe has a restrictor the size of a quarter so I’m guessing the vehicle had to be pre 1975. Still doesn’t say how he could see into the tank. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/7 "2011-06-30T13:40:45Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > That indicates _the firefighters_ were trying to retrieve the Snickers. And it indicates it clearly, in normal usage – this isn’t the sort of error that only a Grammar Nazi would catch. It’s nice that they accidentally freed the guys hand while chasing the snickers though. On another note - who the hell puts a chocolate bar into a gas tank? And yet another note - who the hell looks into the gas tank and would SEE the candy bar? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/8 "2011-06-30T13:50:07Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > On another note - who the hell puts a chocolate bar into a gas tank? Someone who doesn’t want someone else to steal it. For proof of the effectiveness of this, read the linked article. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/9 "2011-06-30T14:04:20Z")
Of course they send a guy named Plummer to write this article. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/10 "2011-06-30T14:13:33Z")
My guess is that the chocolate wasn’t actually in the tank, it was just lodged in the filler tube. Likewise, his hand wasn’t stuck in the tank, his _fingers_ were stuck in the filler tube. You know how there’s that little one-way “door” on a spring-loaded hinge? It’s not hard to imagine how you might get your finger(s) stuck in that like a Chinese finger-trap. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-gets-hand-stuck-in-gas-tank-removing-a-snickers/587374/11 "2011-06-30T14:15:57Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > That article raises more questions than it answers. > Saw a candy bar in the gas tank? How? What kind of car? > Reached in? Again how and what kind of car? > An unleaded fill pipe has a restrictor the size of a quarter so I’m guessing the vehicle had to be pre 1975. Still doesn’t say how he could see into the tank. I am guessing that the article is just extremely poorly written and by “gas tank” they mean anything beyond the gas cap. My theory is that someone shoved a candy bar in the fill pipe, this guy saw the candy bar in the “gas tank” and stuck a couple of fingers in there to get it out. ETA: what **voltaire** said