One day not so long ago, my wife and I were in need of a prescription filled. The lady at the counter informed us there would be a half-hour waiting time. That’s fine; we will go have a coffee and perhaps a slice of pie. We walked to a small café and sat down waiting for a server. Ten minutes went by, no service. Three ladies watched as we walked out, but they continued giggling and laughing.
In all, we visited three more similar joints with the same sort of attitude: help yourself, and come to the till and pay for whatever.
After picking up the prescription, we decided to go make a cup of coffee at home. I noticed my gas gauge was getting down, so while we were here anyway, let’s fill the tank.
As I drove to the pump, there was ‘Self-Serve’ in big letters. Well, I had always been waited on by a very polite servant, with whom I always had nothing but good conversations, like the weather, the heat, the snow and the Oilers.
I do not want gas on my hands — it stinks — so we visited the rest of the ‘service stations’ and all of them were self-serve, pay inside.
I looked at the gauge and decided we could probably make it to Boyle. Dumb idea, they had self-serve too. By now we were short on fuel, so we filled up the tank and drove home.
Not long after, we stopped at Dapp Corner for gas, not because we were empty but because they served.
I know this is not a new thing with gas stations, but why do we have to risk getting fuel on our clothes and our hands, as well as risking our debit card being soiled by the actions of handling the pump nozzle?
I heard that food stores are next in line for a ‘no serve’ sign. You will not only be picking up your groceries, but you will operate the till. Everywhere you look you will see ‘self-serve’ signs, and on your way out there will be a little “have a nice day” sign. It is coming — maybe not tomorrow, but someday.
The part that bothers me the most is that it’s our own fault the self-serve signs came up. We went along with it, and now we can stand there when it is 40 below or 35 above, dressed in our good clothes, and pump gas.
Peder Damgaard
Colinton
