October 19th, 2021

Yeah, you recognize this.  It's a Wawa. They seem to be everywhere. At least around here. But it's merely a representative of any multi-pump gas station that also has a little store inside.  

Over this past weekend we had an experience at a gas station that made me wonder if we were being punked. Surely nobody is really that clueless, that inconsiderate, that rude.....    are they?

Here's the story:

One of the things Tim and I did over the weekend was to gas up my car.  Because I rarely drive and never very far when I do, I do not have to put gas in my tank very often.  Literally months go by with no fill ups.  But over the weekend, because he is a sweetie, Tim took the time and went to the trouble of not only filling my gas tank but also taking my car through a car wash.  What a nice man!

This was a weekend day, so obviously the gas station was going to be busy. We knew that. We were prepared to have to wait.  And as expected, every pump had a car already parked beside it and a lot of cars coming in and going out. The place was packed.  No problem.   Tim pulled in behind a car that had a young man cleaning the windshield. Tim has done that many times. It's a smart thing to do.  Taking advantage of the squeegee set out for that exact purpose.   We watched as this fellow carefully and meticulously cleaned his front windshield, the covers for the front lights, the side windows (both sides of the car) the back window and all of the lights in the back of the car.  He did a really nice job. Very thorough.

As soon as he replaced the squeegee in the spot provided, we were prepared for him to get back into the car, behind the wheel, put his key into the ignition and zoom away.  But nope.  That's when he decided to fill the tank.  What?  No no no.  The correct order is, you put the nozzle in the car tank opening, lock it to fill and then clean the windows WHILE it's filling. There is a proper order for things. What the heck?

We grumbled a little  but ok. How long does it take to fill the tank of such a small car. No big deal. It's a little aggravating but hey, not really a big deal.  Except as it turns out, he wasn't filling the tank.  Nope.  We thought he was going to do it. I mean, he reached for the nozzle, his hand was actually on the handle.  Come on guy, you can do it!!

But nope.  Just as he was about ready to fully grasp the handle, the girl in the car with him, jumps out to show him something on her phone.  Naturally he had to stop what he was doing to look at  - whatever it was - which took a his full concentration.  And of course he had to come to a complete  halt to do so.  And it wasn't enough to look at the thing on her phone.  Nope, then they had to stand there and discuss it.  At length.  They giggled and smiled and laughed and then either looked at the same thing again, or perhaps some other related thing.  I only know that there was much cellphone admiration going on and then chitchat and then more admiration.  ARGH!

A slot opened up opposite this couple so Tim backed up and moved into that spot.  He immediately jumped out of the car, put the nozzle in the gas tank and began the pump as he correctly, began to squeegee the windows.  Meanwhile, I glanced at the couple who are now beside us expecting that for sure by now they are done with the phones are he has begun to pump gas right?

Nope.  Now they head into the Wawa store. Together.  With the car still parked at the pump.  The gas nozzle still not engaged.  I sat there with my mouth hanging open in shock.  Here we all are at this super busy gas station and I am watching this couple as they first walked toward Wawa leaving their car parked at the pump, NOT pumping gas.  What the actual heck?  About 10 seconds later I see them return to the car and I'm thinking, oh they realize that they should move the car first.  Nope.  They forgot their masks.

His was in his pocket so he found his quickly.  Her not so fast.  First she pulled out her purse and rummaged through it. Then she tossed the purse back into the car and, I assume, was hunting through the car.  All I could see was her legs.  There was some sort of conversation going on the entire time. Occasionally she would pop back out of the car to say something and then boop, back she would go, on the search for her elusive facemask.  Eventually, triumphantly, she emerged, mask held high in the air.  Yay.  Success!  Mask Found.  Wearing big smiles, arm in arm, masks in place, back they went into Wawa to get...whatever it was they got.  Might have been just a potty stop, could have been for drinks or sandwiches, maybe snacks or gum, or just lottery tickets. Wawa has a lot of stuff.

And that's fine.  The stuff is there for you to buy.  Go head.  Indulge in a giant Icee and a Snickers bar.  Get some chips and a hot sandwich.  Buy the commemorative Tee-shirt.  I don't care. BUT DON'T PARK YOUR CAR AT THE GAS PUMP unless you are actually actively filling your tank!  Especially at a gas station as busy as this one was.

I have seen a lot of inconsiderate, rude, thoughtless and entitled behaviour before. But that one took first prize that day.  I have no idea how long they were in Wawa because Tim was done filling the tank, cleaning the windows and anything else that needed to be done.  We were on our way out of the station as they were walking in the doors of the shop.  Their car was still sitting at the pump like a giant paperweight, other cars having to work around it.  I can only assume that once they finally emerged from the store, goodies in hand, they would eventually, finally fill that gas tank and be on their way.

I have no idea what on earth they were thinking.  Were they thinking at all?  I know that when you are young and in love it feels as if the two of you together are the only people in the world.  But news flash, you are not.  

I have, of course, seen other equally thoughtless and self-centered behaviour before, but this was a new one for me.  Just when you think you've seen it all.  Wow.