A sign shows gasoline fuel prices above average at over seven and approaching eight dollars a gallon at a Shell gas station in Los Angeles, California, on October 5, 2023.
Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP (Getty Images)
We all need to fuel ourselves, whether our cars or our souls. Having a car that can move under its own power, for example, is good for the soul. But sometimes, getting that liquid go juice can be a hassle. It’s a lot of little things, as it always is.
We asked you what drives you nuts at the gas station, and it got us annoyed all over again. Good thing “annoyed” is our favorite flavor for writing loving post for your eyeballs. Enjoy
A person pumps gas at an Exxon gas station on October 06, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City
Photo: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg (Getty Images)
People who park at the gas pump. They are not pumping. They just park, go in the store to play lottery or something. No intention of getting gas. See it a lot in Atlanta.
From Ted Ladue, so many others
Jim Soroka, left, fills up his car at a busy gas station the evening before the arrival of Winter Storm Juno in Storrs, Connecticut on Monday, 26 January 2015.
Photo: G. Morty Ortega (Getty Images)
People who leave their car running, start the pump, then climb back into their car and close the door to stay warm while the pump clicks away. Yeah, it’s cold out, but you can stand outside for five minutes.
Related, if people didn’t buy gigantic SUVs with 50 gallon tanks, they wouldn’t have to stand in the cold as long while it’s being filled.
From Midlife Miata Driver, others
Gif: Paramount Pictures
The sour looks I get from others when I try to start an impromptu gasoline fight.The sour looks I get from others when I try to start an impromptu gasoline fight.These people have no joy in the lives.24ReplyCitronCSam Bankman-Incarcerated11/16/23 10:43amLet nature take its course I say, go on with your bad self.3ReplyThe NSX Was Only In Development For 4 YearsErin Marquis11/16/23 10:44amThe people who act like they have never operated a gas pump in their lives. They just stare at it in utter bewilderment for like a solid minute, which is almost inevitably followed by two minutes of *beep…beep…beep beep…beep* before they even start pumping. Extra special bonus points when they toddle on inside and drag the poor cashier out to do it for them. 5ReplyAngryBob-VAThe NSX Was Only In Development For 4 Years11/16/23 10:51amIn their defense, it takes a degree nowadays to operate the pump.Do you want to join our rewards program?No.Do you want a car wash?No!Do you want to receive text messages with discounts?No!!You selected 87 octane. Is that correct?AAAAARRGH! JUST TURN ON!!14ReplySlow Joe CrowThe NSX Was Only In Development For 4 Years11/16/23 4:27pmThat’s Oregon right now after self service went state wide in September. Which relates,to my personal peeve of shitty user interface design on gas pumps. They need a simple “fill with regular” macro FFS.ReplyLoad more comments
These people have no joy in the lives.
From Sam Bankman-Incarcerated
A person pulls the gas pump out of their vehicle at a Shell gas station on August 03, 2023 in Austin, Texas
Photo: Brandon Bell (Getty Images)
The people who act like they have never operated a gas pump in their lives. They just stare at it in utter bewilderment for like a solid minute, which is almost inevitably followed by two minutes of *beep…beep…beep beep…beep* before they even start pumping. Extra special bonus points when they toddle on inside and drag the poor cashier out to do it for them.
From The NSX Was Only In Development For 4 Years
Nazih Tageddine wraps cellophane around his gas pump to prevent it from being damaged by the rain from Hurricane Idalia as it passes offshore on August 29, 2023 in Clearwater Beach, Florida.
Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)
In their defense, it takes a degree nowadays to operate the pump.
Do you want to join our rewards program?
No.
Do you want a car wash?
No!
Do you want to receive text messages with discounts?
No!!
You selected 87 octane. Is that correct?
AAAAARRGH! JUST TURN ON!!
From AngryBob-VA
Electric vehicle charging station.
Photo: Getty (Getty Images)
The complete lack of EV chargers at most stations.
From Manwich – now Keto-Friendly
Photo: Dick Whittington Studio/Corbis (Getty Images)
The utter sterility of modern gas stations—just rows of pumps
Compared to old-style gas stations and their down-hominess. You know, a place you’d actually want to hang out. Unlike the modern version which has all the charm of a prison yard.
And
Back in the day, Gas Stations were “Service Stations”.
You’d pull up, hop out, go inside, and buy a paper and a beverage and shoot the shit with the guys there, while a team outside refilled your car, checked all the fluids, inflated all your tires, and gave the windows a good washing.
From the1969DodgeChargerFan and Knyte
Philip Morris Marlboro brand cigarettes are arranged for a photograph at a gas station in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.
Photo: Daniel Acker (Getty Images)
People, who even in this day & age, smoke at gas stations.
Smoking while filling is the worst, but anyone smoking at a gas station is just… infuriating.
From OSpazX
An employee empties trash cans at a Royal Dutch Shell Plc gas station in Redondo Beach, California, U.S., on Sunday, July 28, 2019.
Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg (Getty Images)
-Small towns only offering non-oxy premium that’s always 50 cents higher than normal 91
-Almost all gas stations pushing 88 octane as a cost-saver which is just E15-E20
-Undermaintained pumps that trip the splashback sensor/whatever it is and you have to hold it on super slow flow to fill your tank
-Leaky cover over the pumping area that drips either right where you stand or right on your car.
From savethemanualsbmw335ix
Customers line up at a Costco gas station in Concord, California, U.S., on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg (Getty Images)
Oh! And the people in line at the Costco pumps that don’t look beyond the first pump to see if there’s an opening. They literally have an aisle to drive around and into any spot, just go dammit!
From savethemanualsbmw335ix
People pump gas into their vehicles at a Shell petrol station on October 2, 2023 in Alhambra, California.
Photo: Frederic J. BROWN / AFP (Getty Images)
If there are ARROWS on the ground, showing the intended directions of traffic flow through the pumps….. FOLLOW THEM!!!!!
You not so important that you can zip in from the wrong way, in order to use the pump on the correct side of your vehicle, without waiting patiently like everyone else!
Seriously.
Those are one of the first groups going against the wall, when I take over the world.
Other ones, would be as Rich Hall named them in his Sniglets, “Esso Assos”:
People who cut through corner station lots to avoid traffic lights.
From Knyte
Kirkland Gas Station, West Palm Beach, Florida, Mature adult man filling tank at gas pump.
Photo: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group (Getty Images)
I stopped swiping my card at the pump after my credit card got hacked by a skimmer a few years ago, so now I either use cash or the (supposedly) more secure tap-to-pay.
There are still a number of pumps in Metro ATL that have not yet updated their pumps to tap-to-pay, which means I have go into the store to pay.
But my BIGGEST pet peeve of all time, and not just with gas stations, is cashiers who do not know how to handle currency.
i was taught change should be returned as follows:
- Repeat the total cost of the purchase
- Count out the coins, smallest to largest, to come to the next whole dollar
- Count out the bills, lowest to highest denomination, heads up and face forward, until the total matches the original amount handed to the cashier.
Unfortunately, today most cashiers just hand you a wad of moist bills with your coins in the middle of the pile. Arrrgh!!
From Earthbound Misfit I
Members of the 21st Co-op dance on the corner of 6th street and I-35 on March 13, 2012 during the South by SouthWest music festival in Austin, Texas.
Photo: Kitra Cahana/ Getty Images (Getty Images)
2 things: pet peeve and then greatest gas station moment of my life.
Pet Peeve – Rewards programs not working the same from state to state – and this might have to do with some obscure law but I cannot confirm. In California Chevron maxes out at $0.20/gal discount but drive into Arizona and that Discount on the same account can be as much as $0.80/gal.
Now the good stuff.
Sometime around 2013/2104 I was working a project in Oakland doing overnights. Me and my two crewmates finished work at like 3 or 4am and headed to Denny’s in Emeryville to get some food. It was right next to a Gas Station.
The Gas Station was empty but open. A Lexus SC430 dressed up in Donk Gear rolls into the gas station with Rap Music bumping very loud. The car parked in the middle of the station – not lined up with a pump, but rather center between the 2 pump rows.
A man gets out of the drivers side and a woman out of the passenger side and they proceed to just start dancing.
They danced for about 1 min, then got back into the Car and drove off into the night.
It was an amazing thing to behold.
From klurejr
A fuel pump at a Safeway gas station in Hercules, California, US, on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. US gasoline demand outpaced year-ago levels by 2% in the latest government data.
Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg (Getty Images)
1) slow pumps, 2) video & audio assault at the pump, 3) receipt paper empty, “see attendant for receipt” 4) places ostensibly offering free air, but the pumps are always broken or hoses have no fitting on them
From spookiness
Diesel prices over $6.50 a gallon are displayed on a pump at a Chevron gas station on May 02, 2022 in San Rafael, California.
Image: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)
When there’s a (gasoline powered) car parked at the Diesel pump. Even worse when the owner went inside and left their Prius parked at the pump.
For those who have never owned a diesel, if there are 10 pumps at a station, only one has diesel. And there’s usually a Prius parked there while the owner is inside ordering a latte. They either have no idea they’ve done this or they just don’t care.
Another peeve with diesel is when the pump filter is clogged and fuel only comes out at a dribble. I just give up and go somewhere else since it’ll take a half hour to fill the 40 gallon tank in my truck.
From AngryBob-VA
Keyword: These Are Your Biggest Gas Station Pet Peeves