# Pumping gas isn't rocket surgery you lazy twit **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 12, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976 "2016-04-12T04:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/101 "2016-04-13T17:55:49Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Just because your mom is retarded doesn’t mean you get to be mean on message boards. Using the word retard and retarded are mean. Being an asshole about it is mean. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/102 "2016-04-13T17:58:32Z")
I could choose to fill up my car in Oregon every single time I fill it. I don’t. It takes twice as long to get gas because there is usually one person running six pumps. I also don’t like having to either hand my debit card over to a perfect stranger (where I can’t watch them the whole time) or go inside and wait in line behind the which-lottery-game-do-I-want-to-lose-with-today guy. Also, topping off is ridiculous. You really want to stand there carefully pumping more gas just so you can get that one extra cup that gives you magic numbers on the machine while you risk getting gas all over your shoes? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/103 "2016-04-13T18:03:31Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > But what if you want to fill up? You have to give the clerk more than you think you need, and then go back and get change. Pain in the ass IMHO. MUCH faster to just pay at the pump. I almost never fill up. There’s no need to. $10 is generally sufficient for a week of driving, I buy gas once a week, not a problem. On long trips it’s a different matter, but I don’t do those very often. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/104 "2016-04-13T18:10:57Z")
> [@andros](#): > > :dubious: > [@cochrane](#): > > Call me an idiot, then. I’ve been carrying a debit card for almost 20 years and it’s never been compromised. I just don’t get the hate for debit cards that I frequently encounter here. I might call you a taxi, but I won’t call you an idiot. Sure, you’ve never been compromised. Maybe you never will. but it does happen. I’ve never been mugged, but I don’t ignore the risk. Still, the problem with debit cards is if it IS compromised, the thieves can clean out your bank account. The funds may (or may not) be protected, but in the mean time, you are out real money. Skimmers can steal the info, and your account can be drained before you know it happened. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/105 "2016-04-13T18:31:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I might call you a taxi, but I won’t call you an idiot. > > Sure, you’ve never been compromised. Maybe you never will. but it does happen. I’ve never been mugged, but I don’t ignore the risk. > > Still, the problem with debit cards is if it IS compromised, the thieves can clean out your bank account. The funds may (or may not) be protected, but in the mean time, you are out real money. Skimmers can steal the info, and your account can be drained before you know it happened. I guess it depends on your bank. Mine called me a while back when they noticed some suspicious charges, and after I verified that yes, I bought that and that, but no, I wasn’t in London the day before, they refunded me the money and I got a new debit card. I think I was out the money for just a couple of hours. Debit cards offer the same protection as credit cards. However, at the pump I tell the machine I’m using a credit card, so it asks for my zip code as verification and not my PIN. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/106 "2016-04-13T18:34:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I might call you a taxi, but I won’t call you an idiot. > > Sure, you’ve never been compromised. Maybe you never will. but it does happen. I’ve never been mugged, but I don’t ignore the risk. > > Still, the problem with debit cards is if it IS compromised, the thieves can clean out your bank account. The funds may (or may not) be protected, but in the mean time, you are out real money. Skimmers can steal the info, and your account can be drained before you know it happened. Fine, keep using your credit card. Just get off your fucking high horse about it. I’ll keep using my debit card, thank you very fucking much. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/107 "2016-04-13T18:38:19Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Using the word retard and retarded are mean. Being an asshole about it is mean. People are being mean in the Pit? _gasp_ Somebody guide **lance** to a fainting couch! ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/108 "2016-04-13T18:39:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Be very glad you didn’t venture onto the streets of Portland. It’s bad enough just passing through on the Interstate. Driving here over the past seven years has aged me at least 12 years, and I only put about 3K miles a year on my car. I had planned on going on to Portland but didn’t feel well enough and just headed home. I was supposed to go to the Holiday Inn by the airport, so I think if I’d managed to go in sometime other than rush hour, it probably wouldn’t have been too bad. Maybe. I grew up in WA so I know what it can be like. :eek: > [@watchwolf49](#): > > Automobile carnage in the ditches after a decent snowstorm, cars in medians, cars on front lawns, cars in the river … just how goddamn hard is it to drive on a little snow? Now you PIT the Oregon Legislature for not letting these peoples handle an EXPLOSIVE and FLAMMABLE liquids on their own ??? > > That’s cold, man … just cold … Huh. I had never put those two together before, but I think you are on to something there! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/109 "2016-04-13T18:44:06Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Debit cards offer the same protection as credit cards. Not really. [Credit Card vs. Debit: Which is Safer Online? - NerdWallet](https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-vs-debit-card-safer-online-purchases/) There are important differences by default, although individual banks may have more protections. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/110 "2016-04-13T18:46:47Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > People are being mean in the Pit? _gasp_ > > Somebody guide **lance** to a fainting couch! I’m not the one who brought up being mean, dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/111 "2016-04-13T19:07:59Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Just because your mom is retarded doesn’t mean you get to be mean on message boards. Them titties ain’t retarded. > [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > I’m not the one who brought up being mean, dumbass. > [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Using the word retard and retarded are mean. Being an asshole about it is mean. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/112 "2016-04-13T19:15:24Z")
In **lance’s** defense, **Drunky** used the word ‘mean’ first. **lance’s** original post didn’t use the word. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/113 "2016-04-13T19:29:00Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > People are being mean in the Pit? _gasp_ > > Somebody guide **lance** to a fainting couch! I think you need one yourself, idiot. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/114 "2016-04-13T19:39:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I might call you a taxi, but I won’t call you an idiot. Except for, yanno, already doing that. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > anyone who pays for gas with a debit card is also an idiot Now, it’s entirely reasonable to think **cochrane** an idiot. But consistency, man. Consistency. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/115 "2016-04-13T21:02:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > And this is yet another reason why I prefer to hand the clerk a $10 and say “10 on pump ##” and do it myself. . . . My favorite gas station used to have cash stations. You’d feed in a ten or a twenty, and pump away. They did away with those, so I do have to walk in to the kiosk and hand over the bill or bills. As pains-in-the-ass go, that’s a pretty minor one. (My gas station is never totally full; there’s never a line of cars waiting. So I’m not costing anyone else even a minute of time.) > [@enipla](#): > > But what if you want to fill up? You have to give the clerk more than you think you need, and then go back and get change. Pain in the ass IMHO. MUCH faster to just pay at the pump. It isn’t that hard to make a good estimate of how much you need for a near fill-up. From experience, I know how many miles I get from a full tank, and working back from that is simple mental algebra. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/116 "2016-04-13T21:24:32Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Same thing. A CC would have a pre-auth placed on it for some amount that the gas purchase would not likely exceed, and Lord only knows when the pre-auth comes off – it could be 3 or 4 days or more. Doesn’t really hurt anything except that it impacts your credit limit if you happen to be in a position where that matters. Or maybe get a card that isn’t from a shit bank that does such holds. I have never had a hold on my debit or my credit card for gas. Hell, I’ve never had a hold on my card for anything outside of the amount I actually purchased. Why do people put up with such shitty banking service? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/117 "2016-04-13T22:46:15Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > One thing I’ve never been able to figure out why peoples in Western Oregon are soooooooo completely incompetent at driving on snow. It only takes a half inch to shut the schools down. It’s not that the buses themselves are dangerous, but it’s like they’re giant yellow targets and peoples MUST slam into them. I swear, the peoples ALL drive closer together and at higher speeds. One morning after about an inch of snow, Eugene had **37** traffic accidents on the freeways … and there’s ONLY about 9 miles of freeway total in the whole fucking place. > > Automobile carnage in the ditches after a decent snowstorm, cars in medians, cars on front lawns, cars in the river … just how goddamn hard is it to drive on a little snow? Now you PIT the Oregon Legislature for not letting these peoples handle an EXPLOSIVE and FLAMMABLE liquids on their own ??? > > That’s cold, man … just cold … Remember, many of us are from California. Snow? What’s snow? I don’t mind driving on snow. I did learn how living in other states that have lots of snow. But I agree with you about what the others are doing out there. That’s scary as hell – although not as scary as driving on freezing rain. You won’t catch me out and about for any reason on that nasty shit. We do have nice gas station attendants around here, though. I rarely have to wait long for a fill up. And I just make sure to always tell them not to top it or round off, accompanied with a meaningful look that conveys I won’t take it quietly if they overlook these instructions. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/118 "2016-04-14T02:14:19Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > Or maybe get a card that isn’t from a shit bank that does such holds. I have never had a hold on my debit or my credit card for gas. Hell, I’ve never had a hold on my card for anything outside of the amount I actually purchased. Why do people put up with such shitty banking service? You don’t know what you’re talking about. I hate banks and would be the last to defend them, but this is just wrong. A “hold” in the sense of a pending transaction that immediately reduces your available credit occurs every single time you buy anything and the transaction is authorized, and remains that way until the transaction is posted some days later, or else until the transaction is cancelled. If neither happens, the hold expires at some indeterminate time in the future. You will also get explicit pre-authorizations for set amounts when it’s necessary to guarantee that funds will be available for a future transaction of unknown amount. The most common example is when renting a car. Do you suppose the rental company reads your card just for the fun of it? What do you think happens between the rental agency and your CC issuer at that point? ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/119 "2016-04-14T13:19:21Z")
Kayaker, by quoting me, are you actually trying to say I am the one who brought up the word “mean?” Did you really go back and get those quotes, but not even check the post I was responding to to find out what I was talking about? Please tell me you weren’t that dumb. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976/120 "2016-04-14T13:23:12Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Please tell me you weren’t that dumb. My cousin is aphasic. YOUR USE OF “DUMB” IS INSENSITIVE AT BEST.:mad: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pumping-gas-isnt-rocket-surgery-you-lazy-twit/751976.md?page=7)