Bickering About Gas Stations
I have been blogging for a while and have participated in my share of heated discussions. I have been on the attacking side and I have been on the defensive side. I rarely make a post without being willing to defend my words in the comments. And yet it always surprises me which of my ideas get challenged. I just can’t predict it. Things that I think will be controversial go unchallenged. Things that seem harmless end up upsetting people. For example, take the following story which I wrote over a year ago…
“I was traveling from Colorado to Nebraska and stopped at a Conoco in North Platte. It is notorious for their high gas prices because their location is one of the few main stops on Interstate 80 between Denver and Lincoln. In the past, North Platte gas stations wouldn’t even show their price per gallon on their signs because they knew people didn’t really have any alternatives. You had to pull up to the pump to see how much they were going to stick it to you that particular day. When I took the exit, the first station was a Conoco with a big sign flashing at near strobe light regularity that their gas was $2.26 and they had “the best looking attendants.” Feeling somewhat insulted by the intrusive flashing of the sign, I passed it in favor of a Shell station a few blocks further down the road. To my disappointment, the gas at Shell was $2.49. I decided to pay the extra money and get back on the road. On our return to Colorado a couple days later, we again were ready to refuel in North Platte. This time, I decided to forgive the flashing sign and refuel at Conoco since they were still advertising $2.26. I pulled in and was shocked to see that the $2.26 price was nowhere to be seen on the pump. Since I was in a hurry again, I accepted the $2.49 price and filled my tank. When I got inside, I asked the attendant (who wasn’t good looking at all) sarcastically if I had missed the $2.26 price? As if I was the first person to ask this question, he said, “Oh, that is only on pumps one and two.” I think he mumbled something about “out of order” which seemed to be his backup answer. I was too disgusted to say anything else, so I just paid and left. It was a scam. Literally highway robbery. The gas in pump one came out of the same tank as the other pumps. Conoco, who has the prime location right off the highway, wasn’t satisfied with the usual profit they make from their inflated prices. Now they are deceiving every customer that stops there! I was so raving mad that I will never buy Conoco gas again, ever!”
That was just part of my post and you can read the whole thing here if you are interested, but it is a true story. Then today I got a comment from a local guy named Jo that was offended by my essay. He claimed that the prices were clearly marked and that I lacked common sense. I responded with a link to a recent article written about the same deceptive gas stations and the obligatory counter insult which never helps things, but is hard to resist. I won’t bore you by quoting the conversation any further, but it just strikes me as funny: I try so hard to write engaging posts that challenge and inspire people; and the conversations that actually happen end up being stupid bickering about gas prices. Sigh…
