Well, I haven’t posted an Old Man Rant in quite a while- seems I’ve been in a pretty good mood lately!
But nothing lasts forever- so here we go with a brand new tantrum, inspired by the irritation of others. If you’re interested in the history and origin story of Old Man Rants, click here. If you want to read past rants, click here. If you’re interested in a possibly upcoming ebook of Old Man Rants, send me your email address here, and if you’ve already had enough of this nonsense, feel free to close your browser and do something more useful and positive- I won’t be mad.
If you’re still reading…..
GASSHOLES & CAR ALARMS
It’s bad enough that our societal addiction to fossil fuels destroys the environment. Unfortunately, some of us make it worse by acting like a clueless fools while getting our fix at the gas station.
What do I mean?
Committing any of the following atrocities might get you tagged as rude, or worse yet- a “gasshole”.
While at the gas station, Do Not:
- Take up 2 pumps with one car.
Yep. I’ve seen people do it.
2. Stay parked at the pump “post fill” while heading into the convenience store to shop.
Nobody should have to wait in line for a pump while you’re inside buying snacks, lottery cards, and going to
the bathroom.
3. Pre-pay Inside
No gas station should ever ask you to do this. And if they do, please punish them by driving away and
getting gas someplace else.
And on the related subject of cars…can we please outlaw these idiotic car alarms?!
Raise your hand if your car alarm ever went off when it wasn’t supposed to. Annoying as hell! But maybe you didn’t notice it went off because you were away from your car at the time- which brings me to my next point:
If someone should actually attempt to steal your car, you most likely won’t be there to do anything about it unless you happen to spend a lot of time sitting around in your parked car. If the alarm sounds and you’re not there, others probably won’t even bother looking out the window to see what’s up because car alarms malfunction so regularly for no reason. This gives any potential thief the ability to steal your car as the alarm sounds, while nobody who can do anything about it cares, and the car owner who does care isn’t around to do anything about it!
Maybe if America had any sort of serious public transportation infrastructure, we wouldn’t be so overly concerned with our gas guzzling, road- clogging cars. (Cheers to you electric car owners).
Ah- I feel better now. Time to go chase some kids off my lawn.
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Love the rants. Saves me from having to do it myself. Thanks!
😂 Thanks Julia!
Might I add the people start pumping gas but get back into their car and play with their phones. They never seem to realize the tank is full as everyone one in line glares at them.
Haha yes- that’s a good one! Heaven forbid they have to spend a minute away from their phone 🙄
Point no. 2 is often seen in American movies, therefore I am not surprised. I like your statement about serious public transportation infrastructure. Can you imagine that I haven’t been using my car since November 2022? The subway station is just 200 meters from my home and I do shopping daily so I can carry it with me without being overloaded. The Old Man Runts series puts always a smile on my face, so thank you Todd!
Thanks Cristiana! 🙂 Wow! No driving since last November?! 🤯🤯 For most of us in the US outside of very major metropolitan areas- we can really only imagine not driving since it is (sadly) so far away from reality for us. 😩
It’s a pity that such a modern society like yours hasn’t developed a public transportation infrastructure. In Belgium they do everything to discourage private mobility. For instance in new buildings there is only 1/3 of underground space dedicated to parking, parking in the streets costs a lot, you cannot drive in city centers, just to mention the main measures. And if you live in the countryside for sure there is a train station to connect you with the rest of the country and the rest of Europe.
That sounds excellent! Maybe our (US) lack of thought toward public transportation is connected to our general over-emphasis on the individual.
I was thinking also about it Todd, but I didn’t want to seem judgmental.
Haha no worries- judge freely- we’re a mess over here! 🤦🏼♂️
Our car alarm went off in a parking lot at a swim meet while the national anthem was sung. My husband locked the keys in the car and set it off. So embarrassing!
😂😂 Thanks for sharing that E.A.!
😅
Great to see you back and ranting )
I don’t own a car, relying on public transport instead – but given I’m recovering from an accident on the bus, I guess I could rant about public transport too. 🙂 I don’t experience the problems at the petrol station but do hear you with the car alarms
Thanks for your support of the rants Brenda! 🙂
Wow- just the fact that you can even consider not owning a car is awesome! 🤩🤩🤩
It’s easier living in the UK. I’m about 20 mins by bus from the city centre and insurance where I live is very high for cars.
Ha – I laughed out loud when you transitioned from your good mood with, “But nothing lasts forever- so here we go with a brand new tantrum, inspired by the irritation of others.” Hilarious!
I think all the gas stations around here require you to insert a credit card or prepay inside. Probably the result of have $5/galloon gas. Oh, and a very good point about the car alarms. Huh – your rants are not only funny but also thought-provoking. Maybe it’s my age… 🙂
Thanks Wynne- I’m glad you share my grumpy sense of humor! 😁😎