Be Nice to your Gas Station Attendant

One time I had a conversation with Gregory about how to be a good customer at Starbucks. I expected him to say something like, "Tip lots" or "buy expensive drinks so I get paid more", or even "Don't make a mess". What he actually said was "Answer me when I ask you how you're doing."

It makes a lot of sense. Think about it - it has to be demeaning when customer after customer responds to your optimistic greeting of "Hi! How are you today?" with no eye contact as they shovel through their purse for spare change and a mumbled "doubletallicemochalattewithhalfandhalfsugarnowhipcreamerandsoymilkonthesideandextracoffeegrounds."* That is not, in fact, a legitimate answer to the question, "how are you doing today?". And it's pretty damn rude.

So I took that conversation with Gregory and tried to apply it to other people in service occupations. The next day I had to go to the DMV to get my license replaced (I think it went overboard on a kayak excursion, but if you see someone who is not me trying to use my Costco card, stop them). Everybody knows about DMV people. It went well though. I'm not going to say that being cheerful will change the very cold heart of a DMV worker, but I did get a friendly conversation and she let me take the test after the advertised closing time. It was pretty great.

Then I stopped to get gas a couple days later, and instead of my usual "fill 'er up", I asked him how he was. He was surprisingly talkative. Turns out he just moved up from So-cal, and his friends had told him that people would be more polite here. His experience had been the opposite and he hated it. I hope I was able to restore some faith in the people of the northwest.

Since then, I've become really sensitive to the plight of the gas station attendant. They sit around all day long in the heat, cold, wind and rain, waiting for someone to drive up and demand to have their cars filled. They are surrounded by exhaust fumes and impatient people all day long. I can't imagine eight hours of that. I did a couple four hour shifts of pushing carts at Costco, and by the time I was done I was ready to key the cars of people who refused to return their carts to the corrals. Gas station attendants must have way more patience than me.

Today, I backed into the last remaining spot at a gas station. The person in the truck behind me had just finished and really wanted me to know that he was leaving right then. He didn't want to have to go around me, so he honked his horn at me a couple times before proceeding on. The attendant came up to me and apologized for the guy. 

You're a selfless hero, Mr. gas station attendant.

*This is what I hear when I hear people ordering at starbucks. I'm sure those of you who work there can translate it. As for me, when I order something it usually goes something like this: 

"Hey, can I have tea?" 

"Yeah, what size", 

"Uh...like a medium amount?" 

"So, grande?", 

"Maybe. That sounds kind of big though..." 

"Well, it's our medium size." 

"Oh, okay. Yeah a grande tea. Earl Grey please." 

"Grande Earl Grey. Do you want any sugar, honey or creamer?" 

"In my tea?!"

"Yeah."

"No. Just regular style please."