If You Can't Stand the Fire...

This morning I desperately needed to fill the tank on my gas-guzzling truck. Well, not really fill it, but put the same amount of money that I used to and get only 3/4 of a tank. This has become a most painful experience over the past few weeks given the exorbitant prices for fuel. But, unfortunately, I have to get to work and this is the way I do it.

I usually go to the Arco around the corner from our house. Their pumps are a bit quirky, but they are usually priced decently ($2.87/gallon for 87 octane) and it is close by. I hate filling up in the morning because I am barely motivated to get out of bed and it is all I can do just to set my 4500 pound machine in the direction of work much less drive a little and stop to fill up for gas. But, nevertheless, this is the situation in which I found myself.

So I'm munching a granola bar and watching my hard earned money slide down the mouth of the tank when another truck pulls up to the same pump I am using, only on the other side. Now maybe I'm overly sensitive to this or maybe I'm impatient in the morning or maybe I'm right, I don't know. But this guy gets out of his truck to fill it with gas. No big deal so far, right? Well he leaves the truck idling loudly and he's sucking on a cancer stick so hard his lips are puckering. Immediately I am deeply disturbed by this. I kept thinking, perhaps he is just checking the price before he starts to pump then he will take care of the multitude of ignition sources he has surrounding him. I was wrong.

Do you ever look at people and wonder, what are you thinking? I am not better than anyone else. I make mistakes and do stupid things, but does this guy not know what gasonline does? In liquid form it is highly flammable and in vapor form it is explosive. Dude, burning fuel is what powers your horsepower revving, Flomaster-toting, pinstripe bearing, mud-slinging, country music blaring, 4x4.

No matter how hard the EPA tries, fumes still escape from the fill tube of a vehicles gas tank during filling. You can see it on a hot day; waving invisible clouds that seem to blur the view of whatever is behind them. So this guy, with his arm resting on the bed of his truck just above the fuel door, is puffing away. Cigarette blazing, truck running, oblivious to the whole concept.

Visions of movie-like explosions are running through my head. How can I escape this potential nightmare. Maybe only he'll go up in flames. I can't make my gas pump go any faster. How can I get out of here more quickly? Nothing doing. All while this is running through my head I'm mumbling prayers of deliverance under my breath. Come on, pump faster.

I thought about pointing out his ill-conceived ways. Maybe he is not aware of the hazards of running a vehicle during fueling and smoking near combustible liquids. Maybe he didn't see the huge signs plastered all over the station stating, "NO SMOKING" and "TURN YOUR VEHICLE OFF WHILE FUELING". Maybe he never learned to read. I was bigger than him so I figured I could take him if things escalated. But it is 5:15AM and I've barely had enough energy to shower and pack a lunch. I was in no mood for conversation, especially one likely to get "heated". So I filled the rest of my tank hopped in my truck and jetted out of there as fast as I could all the while shaking my head. Another perfect morning.

~RG