I hate the gas station -_-

Well...I've never refueled a car before, so on my way back from my grandmother's this morning, I needed to get more fuel for my car, because it was one tick above "E". I was putting it off, because I didn't want to go.

So, I pull into the gas station, not too many problems getting there. But, first thing I notice, is that the gas tank is on the wrong side. >_> I drive out, get in the turn lane, come back around, and park on the correct side this time.

Now, just when I thought I'd embarrassed myself enough, I go in, put just $20 on the pump (I don't know the fuel capacity on my car, so I'd figure it would fill it about halfway, which it did). I walk back outside, and try to open the door to my gas tank. Won't. Fucking. Budge. I try sliding the door over, tried pulling on the door, tried to flip the door open. Nothing happens. I'm there for almost a minute or two trying to get the door open. I'm so glad nobody was really around at the time I was trying to do this; I was so embarrassed I actually almost just left without getting the gas I had paid for (that, and I was getting nervous that somebody would show up and laugh at me or something). I remembered that I had my user's manual in the glove compartment, so I quickly skipped through the pages until I found out that I had to pull a lever next to the driver's seat. -_-

Oh, and this gets even better. After I got that bullshit sorted out, open the door, unscrew the cap on the gas tank, and get the hose ready to pump gas. Put the nozzle in the tank, pull the gigantic trigger, but nothing happens. Now people are starting to show up, so inside, I'm mentally beginning to have a panic attack if I don't figure out what to do. So, I quietly tried it again a few times, still doesn't work. So, I FINALLY have to go in and ask the cashier what I'm doing wrong. She looks at me like I'm from another God-forsaken planet, then tells me I just have to flip up the metal thing that the nozzle rests on. Tried it out, sure enough, it works. -_-

I was extremely happy when that was over...but I get to do this again...every time my car needs gas... At least I know what to do now I guess.

I am chuckling as I read this. Only because I understand. THe first time I had to gas up I had no clue what I was doing.

I go to the gas station with my dad. I get out put the hose in pull the lever... noiting...Dad say you have to pull the lever up... I do this nothing..... WTF!!!!! Dad says you have to select what type of gas you want. I was pretty well frustrated at this point and then also the guy next to me is laughing..... Grrrr. I laughed later though myself.

Well, I guess I'm not alone there. xD It was just really awkward to be there in front of all those people, fiddling with my car like I've never even seen it before. I'll probably laugh at it in a day or so, but it was extremely nerve-racking while I was attempting to fix it.

I'm sure. I get frustrated at myself sometimes when I realize something should be easy but I have no clue what the hell I am supposed to do.

Lol i didnt know what i was doing at first either. I just kind of sat there looking at my cap wondering how to get it off. well not my car but still. i did that for 5 minutes and i found out the lever in the car :l Then i pulled out the nozzle and tried unscrewing the cap and it didnt :l i had to twist the other way then the right way.

took me like 10 15 minutes. :l

I forgot about those levers on the gas dispensers. I haven't seen one of those in a long time. At least not since I started driving.

DRGN LRD 1213 wrote:I'm sure. I get frustrated at myself sometimes when I realize something should be easy but I have no clue what the hell I am supposed to do.

Like me playing Rush

I think the worst part of it was getting the door to the gas tank open. On my other car, you could just walk up to it and flip it open (but it could be locked with a key). It moved a bit, so thought I had to slide it or something, so I tried to manipulate the door every which way, but I just couldn't get it to budge. It's so bizarre that you have to open the door with a switch.

Kitsune no Kaji wrote:I think the worst part of it was getting the door to the gas tank open. On my other car, you could just walk up to it and flip it open (but it could be locked with a key). It moved a bit, so thought I had to slide it or something, so I tried to manipulate the door every which way, but I just couldn't get it to budge. It's so bizarre that you have to open the door with a switch.

What year is your car? My '91 corolla had to have the gas tank opened with the lever.

Not really bizarre, most cars are like this now. The old way made it easier for people to steal your gas.

I actually pulled over to shut someone's fuel door when I was driving to work.

Not sure if your car has this, but some cars have an arrow on the gas gauge that points to the side that your gas tank is on.

As far as pulling up on the wrong side, I see people do it everyday, I've done it myself, not a huge deal.

On the topic of people seeing you and laughing or whatever, if they do that, **** em!

I work at a station myself and in some states it's law that you can't pump your own gas (new jersey) and we are pretty much right on the boarder so we get a lot of people from there. I work at a BP to be exact and there's just this little green button that says start that you have to press and then you can pump it.

Though if they have trouble finding it (which it's pretty small so i can't blame them if the don't) i just go out and show them it if it's not too busy because we only have one person running the station at a time.

I've never been to a gas station that wasen't set up like that though.

The Imp wrote:

Kitsune no Kaji wrote:I think the worst part of it was getting the door to the gas tank open. On my other car, you could just walk up to it and flip it open (but it could be locked with a key). It moved a bit, so thought I had to slide it or something, so I tried to manipulate the door every which way, but I just couldn't get it to budge. It's so bizarre that you have to open the door with a switch.

What year is your car? My '91 corolla had to have the gas tank opened with the lever.

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure it's from the 90's, by the way it looks.

That's what I was thinking; it would be harder to steal gas if there was a switch on the interior. I hate people laughing at me though; it's one of things I genuinely can't tolerate for the most part.

Learn to laugh at yourself Bob. It's one of the best things to discover. I understand embarrassment, but honestly that only lasts a moment.

Now if someone laughs at you because you got hurt or something like that, then that's messed up.

chunckylover53 wrote:I work at a station myself and in some states it's law that you can't pump your own gas (new jersey)

what exactly does that mean? like someone working at the station has to do it for you?

Wikipedia blast:

All stations in New Jersey and Oregon offer only full service and mini service; attendants
are required to pump gas because customers are barred by statutes in
both states from pumping their own gas. New Jersey banned self-service
gasoline in 1949 after lobbying by service station owners. Proponents of
the ban cite safety and jobs as reasons to keep the ban.^[15] Likewise, the 1951 Oregon
statute banning self-service gasoline lists seventeen different
justifications, including the flammability of gas, the risk of crime
from customers leaving their car, the toxic fumes emitted by gasoline,
and the jobs created by requiring mini service.^[16]
In addition, the ban on self-service gasoline is seen as part of
Oregonian culture. One commentator noted, “The joke is when babies are
born in Oregon, the doctor slaps their bottom, ‘No self-serve and no
sales tax’ [. . .] It’s as much a cultural issue as an economic issue.
It’s a way of life.”^[17] In 1982, Oregon voters rejected a ballot measure sponsored by the service station owners, which would have legalized self-service gas.^[18]

The town of Huntington, New York bans gasoline self-service to save jobs. The ban went in effect in the early 1970s during a recession.
The constitutionality of the self-service bans has been disputed. The Oregon statute was brought into court in 1989 by ARCO,
and the New Jersey statute was challenged in court in 1950 by a small
independent service station, Rein Motors. Both failed. New Jersey
governor Jon Corzine
sought to lift the ban on self service for New Jersey. He asserted that
it would be able to lower gas prices, but some New Jerseyans have
argued that it can cause drawbacks, especially unemployment.
In New Jersey and Oregon, it is legal for customers to pump their own diesel (although not every station permits diesel customers to do so; truck stops typically do).^{[citation needed]} In Oregon, "certain nonretail" customers may also pump their own fuel.^[19]

Well, I supposed that's kinda true.

That did happen once, but I laughed at myself too for being so stupid. I would've put it on America's Funniest Home Videos or something, if somebody was recording. It was about 4 years ago. We were trying to provoke my sister and her friends to have a snowball fight with us in the winter by throwing giant snowballs on the roof above her room to annoy them. When they came outside, we went to run, and I ran where it was really dark, but before my eyes could adjust, I smashed my knee on the ball hitch of our white horsetrailer, did a frontflip and landed on ice. D: I thought I had shattered my kneecap for a second, because I had ran into it at full force, so I kinda sat there and grimaced for a few seconds while my friends laughed at me (understandably, I would've laughed at somebody who had done the same thing as well too). I got back up and still had a snowball fight later; couldn't run quite a fast, but I just kept going even though it kinda hurt.

I think that we weren't allowed to give our own car gas in Oregon or something, but I could be wrong; I just remember I felt really annoyed about it.

Well doom pretty much got it. I wasen't working when this happened but you shouldn't smoke in a gas station a customer was smokeing and he threw his cig in the trash can and it caught on fire luckily someone from the car wash seen it and got the extinguisher and put it out. The guy working in the station should've done it but from what i've heard he was just talking over the com and telling him where the extinguisher is.

I've never really had anything criminal happen up here but we are right at a busy intersection and a police station right behinde us i also work in a bulletproof booth so it's kinda hard for anything that bad to happen to me up there.

My embarrassing gas pumping story:

I was extremely pissed one day and went to get gas for my car. Once your tank fills the pump has a sensor that acts as an auto-shut off to avoid overfill.

The gas station I was at had really old pumps so sometimes they would cut off too soon.

Well I thought this was one of those times so I kept pumping and eventually ended up spilling a decent amount of gas on myself and the ground under my car.

I was riding with a friend of mine and he forgot to remove the pump, we hear a crash as he drives off and it tears the pump off. He was so embarrassed that he jump out, yanked the nozzle out of the tank, threw it on the ground and hauled ass. LMAO!

TexasMace wrote:I was riding with a friend of mine and he forgot to remove the pump, we hear a crash as he drives off and it tears the pump off. He was so embarrassed that he jump out, yanked the nozzle out of the tank, threw it on the ground and hauled ass. LMAO!

Haha! Awesome. xD

TexasMace wrote:I was riding with a friend of mine and he forgot to remove the pump, we hear a crash as he drives off and it tears the pump off. He was so embarrassed that he jump out, yanked the nozzle out of the tank, threw it on the ground and hauled ass. LMAO!

Yeah i've had that happen a few times but nothing broke and most of the time the people will stop and say they did it. Now i have to get police reports when it happens >.< pumps cost about $200.

Iv had this happen before. We had adapters though that if they drive off it doest rip the hose.

Kitsune didn't you ever have a family member help you pump gas or something?

Ducksaws wrote:Kitsune didn't you ever have a family member help you pump gas or something?

Nope. I've had help driving north for a driving test when I was 18, and I did take Driver's Ed when I was 16, but I haven't had help learning how to pump gas or anything.

You should practice changing tires. Practice, practice, practice. It really helps in an emergency. This is something that should be taught in driver's ed, but usually isn't. My driver's ed teacher was more interested in flirting with the girls in class than he was about teaching important things like gassing up and changing tires on the side of the road.

TexasMace wrote:I was riding with a friend of mine and he forgot to remove the pump, we hear a crash as he drives off and it tears the pump off. He was so embarrassed that he jump out, yanked the nozzle out of the tank, threw it on the ground and hauled ass. LMAO!

I had this exact thing happen to me twice when I worked at a gas station. Thankfully we had breakaway cables so it didn't do any permanent damage. Still, throwing the cable on the pavement and driving away is a douchey and dangerous thing to do.

My post got eaten.

The first time I gassed up my car I couldn't figure out how to open the damn thing up. There was no lip to pull it open, no lock for key-opening. So I crawled all over the damn car trying to find a switch before calling my dad (I'm pretty sure the gassing up next to me thought I was a crazy person). Turns out you press the hinge side of the door and it opens up. At least my dad got a good laugh out of it.

See Kitty! Things like this happen to everyone! At least you can pump your own gas. I girl I work with takes her dad with her and makes him to it because she's incompetent. I really think she'll fail at life.

I haven't started driving yet, but my mom has made me fil gas before.

The first time she was inside the station, and I had no idea what to do.

First thing that happened was I put the pump for diesel in our car. Luckily this guy next to me yelled at me to warn me. So I put the other pump in and started like normal.

This was my first time ever btw. So it stops pumping and stuff. And I think, there is no way its done. So I pull up on the lever and hold it, and hold it and hold it. Somehow it got stuck, and 2 seconds later the pump was pouring all over me and the car.

I freaked out, tried to get the pump out, but ours are designed to stay in the car if they are pumping. So the lever was stuck, its still in our car, and its still pouring out everywhere.

the guy next to me again started to help me. He ran over, grabbed it out of my hand, hit something on the side of the pump and the lever reset itself.

Of course, I ended up wasting nearly two gallons of gas, all over myself and the car.

My mom came out, got mad that I wasted 7 bucks...then just stopped and laughed at me.

It was embarresing, but now I just look back and laugh. And atleast I know how to do it right when I get my truck

Holy shit, 2 gallons is A LOT of spilled gas. They didn't have to call the fire department did they?

I can't remember, it was like 2 1/2 years ago. But I ended up having to throw away my clothes.

Ante wrote:Holy shit, 2 gallons is A LOT of spilled gas. They didn't have to call the fire department did they?

Never had two gallons spill but the people in the station should just have oil treatment they throw on it.

chunckylover53 wrote:

Ante wrote:Holy shit, 2 gallons is A LOT of spilled gas. They didn't have to call the fire department did they?

Never had two gallons spill but the people in the station should just have oil treatment they throw on it.

Where I worked, anything over a minor spill had to be roped off and chemical cleanup crews had to come take care of it.

We had absorbing powder for small spills, but 2 gallons is not a small spill. Imagine taking to jugs of water and pouring them on the pavement. The gas fumes would be terrible.

Yeah I don't remember much about what happened afterwards. But all I know is basically I had to throw away my clothes there, buy sweats and crap. But like I said, wit was a few years back. So other then the incident itself, I don't remember what happened. Plus I was inside the station changing and cleaning the gas off my skin

Soap don't lie, you blew up the whole gas station. MURDERER.

Yes. I have a a deep fiery loathing hatred for any Pilot Truckstop

My dad made me pump the gas when I was still a kid riding around with him. I guess I should be grateful.

I don't remember ever having been taught to pump gas. I just followed the instructions on the pumps. I ised to never use the handle switch though and would just hold the handle lever thing myself because I was afraid it would over fill lol.

Ante wrote:

chunckylover53 wrote:

Ante wrote:Holy shit, 2 gallons is A LOT of spilled gas. They didn't have to call the fire department did they?

Never had two gallons spill but the people in the station should just have oil treatment they throw on it.

Where I worked, anything over a minor spill had to be roped off and chemical cleanup crews had to come take care of it.

We had absorbing powder for small spills, but 2 gallons is not a small spill. Imagine taking to jugs of water and pouring them on the pavement. The gas fumes would be terrible.

Yeah i guess that sounds right. The first time i pumped gas i was like.. 17-18 and i've started working at the gas station at 16, will have worked there for 3 years next month.

Ive never had any problems pumping gas. guess im just a natural.

and look at what freakonomics tweeted today http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/07/07/the-wastefulness-of-new-jerseys-gas-pumping-restrictions/

Zillah wrote:Ive never had any problems pumping gas. guess im just a natural.

and look at what freakonomics tweeted today http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/07/07/the-wastefulness-of-new-jerseys-gas-pumping-restrictions/

Bizarre. In all my life in the midwestern/southern U.S., I've seen maybe two or three gas "attendants," and they were really just regular employees who would pump the gas if you asked. They weren't hired for that purpose.

Elraptor wrote:

Zillah wrote:Ive never had any problems pumping gas. guess im just a natural.

and look at what freakonomics tweeted today http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/07/07/the-wastefulness-of-new-jerseys-gas-pumping-restrictions/

Bizarre. In all my life in the midwestern/southern U.S., I've seen maybe two or three gas "attendants," and they were really just regular employees who would pump the gas if you asked. They weren't hired for that purpose.

where in the midwest do you live?

Zillah wrote:

Elraptor wrote:

Zillah wrote:Ive never had any problems pumping gas. guess im just a natural.

and look at what freakonomics tweeted today http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/07/07/the-wastefulness-of-new-jerseys-gas-pumping-restrictions/

Bizarre. In all my life in the midwestern/southern U.S., I've seen maybe two or three gas "attendants," and they were really just regular employees who would pump the gas if you asked. They weren't hired for that purpose.

where in the midwest do you live?

Missouri, where tornadoes go to gorge on human life.