Monday, February 10, 2014

The New Rest Area

I was sitting outside of the Pilot for a little less than an hour waiting for my laundry to be done.  I had a seat perched on an empty shelf where windshield washer fluid once sat, and an unobstructed view of the fuel island.  I surfed the net on my iPhone while I waited.

During that time I watched this ABF truck on the right pull through the fuel island - he didn't even get fuel - and park in the spot he's currently in. He went inside and disappeared for at least twenty minutes.

I know it was twenty minutes because I was timing my dryer cycle.  And when the women in the truck behind him pulled in - she got fuel, washed her windows, popped the hood and checked her fluids - before she headed up the stairs to go in and pay.  She was talking on her Bluetooth headset the entire time.


When she came out, I politely interrupted her.  I told her the guy in front of her had been there for twenty minutes, that he didn't even get fuel, but that I hadn't seen him since he went in.  She thanked me and said, "Well then I think I'll just go get me a cup of coffee."  

She came out with the coffee and he was still there.  By now it was at least thirty minutes he'd been gone.  She got back in her truck, still talking on the phone, and sat there for a while.  He eventually came out, fast food bag in hand, lumbering to his truck as if all was right in the world.  He was a big 'ol boy, too.

Now I'm all about the lazy.  I will take the spot closest to the door in any shopping establishment worldwide.  Here at the Pilot, the parking lot was one flight down from the fuel island, the store was one flight up, and the Wendy's was another two flights up.  I can see where a bout of laziness can strike.

As much as I feel the pain of those who don't want to do a Stairmaster to get a burger, the embarrassment of coming out to a fuel island full of people after having been gone for thirty minutes, and to not even emerge with a fuel ticket in hand, would have been more than I'd be able to bear.  I like my lazy to be done privately.

Getting fuel, paying for it, grabbing a cup of coffee or a snack while you're inside getting your paperwork is fine.  Parking and going for your lunch is not.  Using the fuel island to catch up on your logbook is not.  Calling your girlfriend or mother and chit-chatting while other people are waiting behind you, no good.

And it's certainly not the place to squeeze in your thirty minute break.  Use your brains, people.  You're not the only one on the road.  Have some consideration.

Because we've got your number.  That's right, ABF Truck# 500447.  I'm talking to you. 



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2013: Sidestepping Nemo Wasn't All That Hard
2012: Fun, Fresh, Fabulous Little Neighborhood
2011: What Do You Get When The Daily Rant Meets The Plum Trucker? A Plum Crush!
2010: Industrial Morning
2009: Sunset On Venice
2008: Knots And Nautical Miles
2007: What Is The World Coming To When The Girls Next Door Think They Are Fat??
2006: T.T.D.L.I.T.H.A.T.I.F.
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

1 comment:

Gil said...

Like you didn't know that people are just rude and self-centered these days. Someone like that would probably walk right over a body laying on the pavement without blinking an eye.