Mind Your Own Business

I'm crying and I can't help but not...some people out there are so stupid that it makes me cry out because of frustration. By the way, let me put a disclaimer out...do not feel offende by anything I say. This is mearly a reflection of my inner feelings and thoughts. But to that ignorant "red neck" couple out there driving their blue Cherokee SUV... blog is for you.

On my way home from work, I realize that I need to fill up on gas. "There's no squeezing in one more trip on the gas I have left, " I thought to myself. Little did I know that this would be no ordinary trip to the gas station. HA!

I pull into the first available gas pump and go through the usual routine...stop the car, pull out the keys, pull out my wallet, get the credit card, open the door, pull the gas lever, slide the card...select the grade and begin filling. I look around and notice that a car has pulled into the pump behind me. A young girl steps out and does her routine...I notice that her routine is a little different than mine...there's no pulling out the keys...

In fact, to my surprise and slight horror, not only were the headlights on (no biggie), BUT the freaking car was still running!!!! "Maybe they don't know, " I think to myself. I do a quick once over with the car again...yup, it's running.

Am I wrong or aren't you supposed to turn the car off when handle flammable materials? I knew I should say something to them, but the Tanookie inside me held back. "Do your research," the inner voice told me. Don't make a fool of yourself...so I look at my pump at the various stickers that warn customers.

"Do not top off. "
"When filling up containers, place object flat on ground. "
"Do not use equipment that could create an electrical spark."
"TURN OF ENGINE."
"HA!"

I knew it...it doesn't take a genious to figure out that one shouldn't be pumping flammable gas into a hot machine that utilizes gas for fuel. I turn to this girl and say, "You know...you really shouldn't be filling up with the car running. "

She looks up, shrugs her shoulders, and says, "So." (So?!?! I imagine this gas station blowing up with me in it.) She didn't seem bothered at all.

"I'm just saying that you really shouldn't be filling up on gas with the car running, " I repeat. "There's even a warning, " and I point at the biggest sticker on the gas pump. She looks and shrugs, "So, " she repeats. Fine...blow us all up. You and your little car too. "Stupid people, " I mutter.

Her "boyfriend" speaks with her briefly. Then he yells out the window, "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, there's a problem, " (as if he didn't know what she was doing) "Your filling up on gas with the car running. " DUH.

"Well, maybe you should mind your own business, " he says to me. What the F&*$ is wrong with these people? Yeah, it's not only my business, but I'm sure it would be the business of the other 10 or so people here at this gas station to know that you are filling up on gas with the F*&^ing car running.

"I'm just saying that there is a reason for why there is a big sticker on the pump that tells you to stop the engine, " I say calmly. DUH.

"What...you think that there will be an explosion or something?" BINGO. Jeeeeezus...these are probably the same F&?!ing ignorant people that don't believe that smoking causes lung cancer. I just imagined their "red necks" smoking while pumping gas into a running car while on the cell phone. My GOD.

They are done filling up on gas and they pull up next to my car. "Well, you should just mind your own business, " he says curtly. He pulls away slowly and yells out of his car, "Welcome to America!" What the F&*@ is that all about?!?!?! Welcome to America? That made no sense whatsoever...Welcome to America? Where Americans have the freedom to fill up on gas any which way they please? Are there other countries out there that don't have the freedom to fill up their car with the car running? Should we go to war to liberate those poor, innocent people who are forced to fill up their cars while off? In park? In fear?

I couldn't believe the idiocracy that I just witnessed. And to think that if I did die from an explosion...it was because of these idiots! Did these people seriously think that they were right? Did anyone else see what had happened? Unfortunately not...but I would have loved to have someone side with me. Never had I encountered such ignorance. As a nurse practitioner I see a lot of stupid things that people do because they aren't educated, but this was the worst because it bothered me so much. But why?!?!

Why? Because EVERYTHING that came out of their "redneck" mouths made NO sense whatsoever. No one out there can convince me otherwise. I was only trying to point out the obvious. They were on a completely different level of intelligence...in fact the bottom. There was no arguing with them...it's like speaking a different language to these people. No matter what I could have said would make a difference in their punitive lives. Go on home to your "redneck" world and watch your family members battle it out on "Jerry Springer". Why not make your life complete and trade in that Cherokee for something more fitting like a old Chevy pickup truck with the Confederate flag airbrushed on the roof?

"Welcome to America, " he says. Was he trying to be racist? I've been here...in fact, I was born here and I've probably been alive longer that he has been here.

"Welcome to America, " I think to myself. If you think you have the right to fill up on gas with the car running, then by all means go ahead. Just make sure you realize that you aren't the only one in America or for that matter, at the gas station.