The only time I ever had to pre-pay was back in the 1980s when gas was so expensive that the drive-offs were getting out of hand, or as someone else alluded to, I was in a less-than-savory neighborhood. I still see it occasionally these days, but it's generally for the pumps that are at the very end of the fueling apron where someone could still fill-and-fly easily. And yeah, I know that almost everybody has surveillance cameras nowadays, but most of the time those security cams can barely tell the difference between male and female or black and white, let alone show clearly identifiable facial features.
So if I was going to steal a tankful of gas I'd 1) make sure my license plate is missing or otherwise obscured and 2) make sure that my face is covered somehow as well. In fact, with the pandemic and people in masks being the rule rather than the exception, I'm surprised that drive-offs haven't already gone off the scale. -"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?
I could be misremembering, but I think I recall using "put-in-your-credit/debit-card-and-then-start-pumping" petrol pumps in the UK? (Not in Cornwall, though.)
Yep, you're right,we do have those. I was referring to having to pay at the kiosk before filling up.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Meade--I never recall tipping the gas station attendant, but now that I think of it I'm not sure why I would leave a tip for the guy that gives me my coffee at a counter, but not the attendant. It's strange how tipping customs are different in different areas/countries.
We have one station near my home that is attended only, and now that I’m old and achy, I go there when I need to fill up on very cold or snowy or otherwise inclement days and I tip a couple bucks out of appreciation for the weather the attendant is saving me from.
They don’t clean the windshield or ask to check the oil or any of the other things that used to be routine when full service was the norm. I do miss those days, to be honest.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
