Listen, I Don't Work for the Government!

As I was going through the normal ritual of fighting with the pay-at-the-pump... gas pump... at the gas station. <-- Wow, too many of the same words in the same sentence. I'm starting to confuse myself.

Let's try that again... As I was fighting a gas pump from 1983, I was reminded of why I hated going to that gas station. First of all because none of the pumps can read my card. I always have to go "see cashier," completely defeating the purpose of having the pay-at-the-pump option.

If that weren't bad enough, I had to play my favorite gas station game. I'm sure you've played it before, the guess how much gas it will take to fill my tank game! "Okay, I know I wasn't completely empty. And I think my car holds 11 gallons... or is it 13? Wait, or is it the Car-on-Call that holds 11 gallons?

You know about the Car-on-Call, right? The Car-on-Call is a term I've given the crappy car you have to drive when yours is in the shop...because you never know when yours will decide, "Hey, it's been a while since I've been to the repair shop. I think I'll blow a gasket." Common, everyone has a Car-on-Call... or is that just a Roach Family thing?

Anyway back to the story, I was playing my favorite gas station game and decided instead of trying to figure out how many possible gallons my car needed... and then multiplying by the current price of gas... I just took the easy way out and told Mr. Patel to ring me up for $20.00.

As I walked back to my car, I remembered another amusing tale of when I was at th exact same gas station, following the exact same orders. "Please see cashier." Only this time I got into a conversation with Mr. Patel about the shirt I was wearing.

I was wearing one of my GSU Student Government Association shirts, and as he pointed to my shirt he asked, "Do you work for di government?" I said, "No not the real government, just the Student Government at Georgia State University." He looked confused, and I realized I just used the words Georgia, State, Student, Government, and University to answer a simple Yes or No question.

The confused Mr. Patel said, "Hmmm... so you do work for di government?" Oh, my goodness! Seriously? I wasn't in the mood to give a lesson on the politics behind University funding and governance so I said, "Sort of. Student Government, yes."

Good ole' America, still the Melting Pot of the World.