Dear Motoring Public,
I work as a Guest Service Attendant, which is a fancy name for “the person standing behind the counter when you buy gas,” at a station in London, Ont. I am embarrassed to admit that I have had this job for more than two years. I have two college diplomas and started working here after my husband of 32 years left me – on the same day my business failed. It’s not a job that anyone aspires to, and is not respected by most people.
Every day, my fellow employees and I deal with you, the motoring public, and there are a few things that we would like you to know.
Yes, the price of gasoline is high. This, however, is not my fault. And no, I am not making any percentage of that profit. I work for minimum wage. If you are unhappy about the price of gasoline, buy stocks in our company; at least then you will benefit from its obscene profits.
When you are required to pay for your gasoline before we turn the pump on for you, it’s not because we think you are a criminal. In fact, we know you are an honest, law-abiding citizen who rescues kittens out of trees and donates to the poor. Unfortunately, you are not the only person who uses our gas pumps.
The sad fact is that there are people in our community who can’t afford to pay for gas (especially now), or don’t want to. And when they fill up their tanks and squeal out of here, we don’t want them to run over you or the children standing at the bus stop beside our driveway.
You can come into our station to pay or, if you are really advanced in embracing technology, you can pay for your fuel at the pump. No standing in line, no need to unbuckle your kids from their car seats. If you don’t know how, and you ask nicely, we might even come out and show you how to do it.
Then there’s the car wash. First off, if our station doesn’t have a car wash, we can’t sell you a car wash ticket. We don’t know how much a car wash costs, and we don’t know which is the better car wash. We don’t have a car wash.
On the other hand, if we do have a car wash, and you don’t know how to use it, feel free to come into the station and ask. We won’t think you are an idiot.
If you get out of your car and leave the door open while you try to start the car wash, or block the entrance with your vehicle while you come in to buy your ticket, we’ll know you are an idiot.
Car washes are computerized. If you don’t follow the required activation steps you will mess up the computer. If you drive through instead of waiting for the conveyor to carry you, you will mess it up. If you drive through partway and stop, you will mess it up, and the next car coming through will hit you. If the box of your truck has tools, empty coffee cups and extension cords in it when you start going through the car wash, they will probably not be there when you exit. And if the car wash brushes picked up the extension cord, the vehicle following will be beaten by it, which at that speed will break the windshield.
