One thing I keep meaning to blog but never get around to concerns petrol stations. Now, I’m not sure whether it’s worldwide, but the Petrol (Gas/Fuel) Stations here generally have these pumps which keep the pipe neatly tucked away in the pump using some sort of coil-spring mechanism so that it sucks the pipe back into the pump when you’ve finished using it. Everyone in the UK knows about these as they’ve been around for quite a while and they must’ve used them several times by now.
The operation of these pumps is simple. Pull up, pop your petrol cap, pick up the pump, extend the pipe a bit by pulling it, then press the trigger. Job done.
So why… why oh why oh why ohhhhhhhh…. flamin WHY do people think that these pumps only extend around half a metre?
Every time I fill up, without fail, there’s a queue of people waiting for either the right-sided pumps or the left-sided pumps, depending on which side their petrol cap is. Take Thursday for example – my petrol cap is on the left side of the car, so for ease I look for the pumps which serve on that side. However, there’s a huge queue. Why? Why is there a queue? Why are these people so prepared to sit in that queue ? Sure, it’s easier, but it’s JUST as easy to go to the pumps that dispense on the opposite side, park up, then pull the hose out onto the other side of the car. All you need to do is drag it over your boot / hatchback and – bingo – you’ve got fuel. See? LOOK EVERYBODY – it DOES REACH TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CAR Y’KNOW!!!
Even when you do it in front of a WHOLE LINE of people who’ve been queuing for ages they still don’t try it. Why? What’s wrong with these people?
Some days I feel like waving a huge banner saying..
THE PETROL PUMPS DO REACH BOTH SIDES OF YOUR CAR!!
Ok, Ok, Granted – some people may not want an oily pipe on top of their car, however it’s fairly easy to hold it above the paint work or – if you’re not prepared to do that, why don’t you just reverse in… It’s mental just to sit there in a big queue which ends up going onto the road…
Right, that’s THAT off my chest…. OK ?! Good.