So there I was getting my coffee when, I spied with my little eye the something that was amazing, it turned out it was biggest idiot of the day

It is 6:47am, the day is a Saturday, the weather, overcast and the likelihood of rain is HIGH. I pull into Gate to get my coffee and notice a guy pumping gas into his big Mercedes, not something I normally notice mind ya. What drew my attention today was the fact that this guy was sucking on a Marlboro with the attention a 500 dollar whore might approach her work, so I have heard anyway. While pumping gas, this genius is burning a butt, I could not believe what I was seeing. In a day that the warnings pasted on gas pumps list not even talking on the cell phone for fear of creating a spark and possibly risking violent explosion. In a day and age when we are warned, if a fire does start, “not remove nozzle, and to back away immediately” what was this guy thinking. As I was getting my coffee inside all I could think about was the explosive imminence of the fireball that would be awaiting me when I returned to my jalopy. I keep glancing out at boy wonder while making my coffee, I comment on the guy and the fact he is smoking to the bleary eyed clerk who does not even muster a shoulder shrug. Oh well I thought, if he doesn’t care why should I right?

I am now making my way to my jalopy across the parking lot and just when I thought it could not get more ridiculous it did, unbelievable right? He tosses the butt on the ground and does not even bother to step on it to extinguish the thing. As the wind blows the butt, throwing sparks as it skitters across the parking lot I make an exaggerated movement and step it out, I give him a glance of righteous indignation but choose not to confront him, might spill my coffee. UNBELIEVABLE!! It does not end there though, sadly enough. He is looking right at me with the smuggest don’t you know who I am look and pulls out a fresh Marlboro and sparks it off with a Zippo. I was momentarily impressed with the fact he was using a Zippo, you just do not see folks using a Zippo anymore, I collect them and have a great number of them which is why I was impressed, just momentarily though. In a day when it is illegal and dangerous to dispense motor fuels into unapproved containers he is going to enjoy cancer stick at the same moment he is pumping gas into his car.

While there are laws governing smoking at the pump the difficulty of enforcing fire codes may be the reason some smokers continue to engage in dangerous behavior at gas pumps. Obviously, smoking while pumping gas is very dangerous, and it’s illegal, local gas station owners and managers still report it on a regular basis. Joyce Price, the manager of Hickory Point on Greenville Street, said she sees people smoking at her pumps a couple times a week. “If I see them I go out and tell them to stop,” Ms. Price said. “People are just ignorant” consumers do not realize if it explodes everyone, even the people inside the station are gone. Jack Abraham, Chief of the Anderson City Fire Department, said his department responds to between three and five gasoline related fires per year, and Anderson City only has a population of about 25000 people. The warning signs posted at the pump, as mandated by the International Fire Code Section 2205.6, don’t seem to have the intended effect either. Seems that for whatever reason people don’t pay attention to the warning, kinda like those pesky speed limit signs – ya know those are for other people not me right?

As I pulled out I wondered how many accidents are created by people smoking while at the gas pump, numbers are hard to come by and exact causes are even harder to determine. So I pondered it on my way to breakfast with my buddies and thought, if I see that again I am going to say something, that is a public threat and should not be excused, no matter the kind of car. An idiot is an idiot whether they are driving a Mercedes or an old Ford Pinto. You may have noticed a bit more disdain in my comments than normal for Mr. smoking at the pump boy, I quit smoking very close to 2 years ago so there is that.

DO NOT smoke at the pump friends, the life you take may might be mine, perish the thought!!!