I filled up with gas the other day,
and was surprised to see a new sign at the pump, informing me that as
of February 1, 2008, it would be the law in BC that all gas must be
paid for in advance of pumping. The Esso Company-created sign also
noted that if I paid with a Debit Card or a Quick-Pass, I could avoid
having to go into the store to prepay.
Naturally I found this somewhat confusing, since, on the face of it, they seemed to be telling me that I could no longer pay at the pump with my Credit Card.
Looking at the pump itself, though, I quickly saw that Credit Cards would still work at the pumps just as well as Debit Cards or a Quick-Pass.
Why Esso chose to invite its customers to use the dummy-targeted Debit Cards, rather than the uber-intelligent Credit Card is a question that I will dwell on at another time.
While pumping my gas, I re-read the sign and realized that this must be the result of a death a few years ago of a gas-station attendant who tried to stop a thief from driving off without paying for gas.
I nodded internally, giving my unspoken validation to the government’s passing of this logical law. This would protect innocent, minimum-wage-earning high school students from the murderous rage of the average gas thief.
The thing is, in the past, whenever I had seen a sign that informed me that I had to pre-pay for gas, I had always thought one thing, “What a horrible country. Thank God I live in Canada where we don’t have terrible signs like this..”
Oh, I did eventually see one like it in Canada, at the Esso at the corner of Oak and King Edward, but I took some very small consolation in the fact that the requirement to pre-pay was only in effect in the night-time.
On a side note, this particular Esso station also has a camera trained right at the door, and a buzzer under the clerk’s counter that he must push to allow you into the store. I can only assume that this particular Esso location has experienced a statistically unexpected number of robberies in the past.
So what is the difference between the signs on the pumps in LA and the new signs that have been put up in BC? The ones in LA mean to me that man has given up on his fellow man, and will no longer trust a complete stranger with forty dollars worth of gasoline. The signs in BC re-affirm my faith in the government to watch out for its citizens and protect the innocents of our society from the evildoers that spring up from time to time out of the genetic pool.
November 28, 2011
Naturally I found this somewhat confusing, since, on the face of it, they seemed to be telling me that I could no longer pay at the pump with my Credit Card.
Looking at the pump itself, though, I quickly saw that Credit Cards would still work at the pumps just as well as Debit Cards or a Quick-Pass.
Why Esso chose to invite its customers to use the dummy-targeted Debit Cards, rather than the uber-intelligent Credit Card is a question that I will dwell on at another time.
While pumping my gas, I re-read the sign and realized that this must be the result of a death a few years ago of a gas-station attendant who tried to stop a thief from driving off without paying for gas.
I nodded internally, giving my unspoken validation to the government’s passing of this logical law. This would protect innocent, minimum-wage-earning high school students from the murderous rage of the average gas thief.
The thing is, in the past, whenever I had seen a sign that informed me that I had to pre-pay for gas, I had always thought one thing, “What a horrible country. Thank God I live in Canada where we don’t have terrible signs like this..”
Oh, I did eventually see one like it in Canada, at the Esso at the corner of Oak and King Edward, but I took some very small consolation in the fact that the requirement to pre-pay was only in effect in the night-time.
On a side note, this particular Esso station also has a camera trained right at the door, and a buzzer under the clerk’s counter that he must push to allow you into the store. I can only assume that this particular Esso location has experienced a statistically unexpected number of robberies in the past.
So what is the difference between the signs on the pumps in LA and the new signs that have been put up in BC? The ones in LA mean to me that man has given up on his fellow man, and will no longer trust a complete stranger with forty dollars worth of gasoline. The signs in BC re-affirm my faith in the government to watch out for its citizens and protect the innocents of our society from the evildoers that spring up from time to time out of the genetic pool.
November 28, 2011
Addendum:
It's nearly four years on as I am finally posting this, and the killer was briefly on the loose last week.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Pratt+arrested/5750018/story.html
Faith in government's ability to do the right thing now being re-examined on a daily basis.
It's nearly four years on as I am finally posting this, and the killer was briefly on the loose last week.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Pratt+arrested/5750018/story.html
Faith in government's ability to do the right thing now being re-examined on a daily basis.
BACCHUS, Patti