I work at a gas station. At around 7:00 pm, a lady walks in and goes into the bathroom. About a minute later, a kid who’s around nine or ten years old also goes to the bathroom. A few minutes later, the lady comes out of the bathroom and walks out of the store, gets in her car, and drives away. A few minutes after that, the kid walks out of the bathroom, goes outside, and comes back in.

Kid: “I think my mom left without me.”

Me: “Do you know your mom’s phone number?”

The child says yes and tells me. I phone the number and it goes straight to voicemail. I’m not surprised; I live in a small village with bad service. I leave a message.

Me: “This is [My Name] and I’m calling from [Business, Gas Station]. I’m just letting you know your son is here and he is safe. When you get this message, please call us back at this number. We will be here until 9:00 pm.”

An hour later, the lady phones back.

Lady: “Hi! I’m an hour away! I’m coming right away!”

The kid was very well-behaved while waiting for his mom, sitting at one of the tables we have in the store. And around an hour later, the lady came into the store and got her son. She offered to give us money for our troubles, but I said no.

I go to the gas station and pull up at one of the pumps. It’s morning, and the gas station is empty. I get out of my car, run my card at the pump, select my fuel type, and put the nozzle in the gas tank. It clicks but nothing happens. The pump is clearly not running. I check the pump to make sure I actually selected the fuel type; yes, I did select the fuel type I wanted since that one is showing the price, whereas the other two are no longer showing the price. I try again; nothing comes out. I check to make sure my credit card was read by the machine; the screen does not indicate anything is wrong. I try to get the pump started a few more times, each time checking both the fuel screen and the payment screen to see if I missed a step. There is no sign indicating that the pump is out of order. Finally deciding that the problem may be the attendant failing to activate the pump, I finally go inside.

The attendant is standing at the counter, looking at me. Considering that I am the only customer at the station and the pump I used is in her direct line of vision, I am wondering why she would not activate the pump.

Me: “Hi, pump two appears to not be working, and I checked everything—”

Attendant: “Yes, there was a sign on there before, but someone took it down. It only works on Premium.”

There is a long pause after she speaks. I stare at her, waiting for her to offer further assistance. I am incredibly confused as to why she would not replace the sign or put a bag over the pump. By all appearances, she seems to have literally NOTHING to do, and there were no cars around when I pulled in. In the past, I’ve even had attendants alert me over the intercom if something was wrong with my pump or the card reader as I was using it. This particular attendant makes absolutely no move to help, and her response does not offer a solution, like suggesting that I move to a different pump.

Me: “Um… are all the pumps like that?”

Attendant: “You can move to pump four if you want to use Regular.”

I sputtered a bit because I was frustrated and trying very hard not to take it out on her, even though I felt like she did nothing to prevent the situation from happening and seemed to not be interested in helping further. I just walked out of the gas station, moved my car, and tried again with pump four, which works perfectly.

I kept looking at the broken pump; the attendant was not coming out with a sign. I went to my car to make my own sign since I felt like she was going to let this happen to everyone who came to that pump. However, the second I was done making my sign, she came out with a sign and put it on the pump. We both made eye contact for a long moment before she turned around and went back inside. I just got back in my car and drove to work, making a mental note to never to go to that gas station if I could avoid it.

A woman comes in on a holiday weekend; our station is on a main road so we are INSANELY busy.

Customer: “I left my receipt when I got gas. I need it! I’m a cab driver!”

Me: “What time did you come in, and what pump did you use?”

Customer: “It was hours ago! I can’t remember!”

Me: “Okay, how much did you spend?”

Customer: “I can’t remember! Find my receipt!”

After several minutes of a building line and being called every name under the sun, I finally say:

Me: “Ma’am, would you like for me to print you a random receipt from the approximate time you were in? Because outside of that, there is literally nothing I can do without some kind of information.”

She curses me out again and leaves. The next day, I have a write-up waiting because the customer lied and said I screamed at her and called her a “stupid f****** b****.”

Of course, I didn’t say that, and I explain this to the manager.

Manager: “Even if you didn’t actually say it, your face did.”

So, I’m in trouble for something I DIDN’T say?! I hated that store so much.

I’m getting ready to drive from [Frequently Visited Small Town] to my home near [Big, Distant City]. I stop at the town’s sole gas station to fill up. All pumps have a paper sign that says, “Prepay only,” so I enter the gas station to give them my card.

Me: “I’d like to prepay for a fill-up. I don’t know how much it will be.”

Attendant: “Take a guess; we can refund the difference between what you pay and what you pump.” *Pauses* “Oh, and our card machines sometimes don’t work.” *Pauses* “Insert your card and see what happens.”

I insert my card, approve a guesstimate, and wait. The attendant shows me where my card was accepted, but the transaction did not go through. I pocket my card.

Me: *Greening* “I guess I will pay with green pieces of paper, then.”

Attendant: “You mean you have cash?“

Me: “Yep.

I hand over a twenty-dollar bill. I then pump something less than $20 worth of gas, check my card’s account with my smartphone to make sure it was not charged for the gas, and return to the attendant, who gives me the correct change for the $20.

Attendant: “Thank you for not yelling at us!”

Me: “You mean people get angry at you when they have to pay cash?”

Attendant: “You couldn’t imagine!”

I stop in a petrol garage halfway through a long drive and pick up some food and an energy drink.

Cashier: “Oh, these are two for £1.50.”

Me: “Great, I’ll take two.”

I look back at the massive queue.

Me: “Can you scan that twice and I will pick up one on my way out?”

Cashier: “Sure.”

I pay for my things, grab a second bottle, and hold it up so the cashier can see that I remembered and go to leave. I get as far as the door.

Customer: “Hey, you stop.”

Me: “I already paid for this; you can ask the cashier if you are bothered.”

Customer: “I’m not letting you leave.”

Cashier: “Sir, sir, it’s fine; he’s already paid.”

Customer: *Ignoring her* “I don’t know what things have come to today. In my day, I— Hey! Where are you going?!

I duck under his arm.

Me: “I really don’t have time for this. I have a long drive.”

Cashier: “Sir, please leave him alone.”

Customer: “What?! What is going on? You need to—”

Cashier: “No, you need to leave other customers alone. I have told you twice now. Now join the queue or I will have to call the police.”

I got in my car and I could still hear the other customer ranting. I didn’t wait around for what happened next, but I hope the cashier put him in his place.