Violence at the Pump
- Sep, 22 2008
- By admin
- Thoughts
- 2 comments
If you live in the Nashville area you know first-hand that we’ve had a gas shortage. The hurricanes and the fact that people are freaking out and getting in line for an hour just to top off their tanks out of fear are contributing to this problem.
I was blessed to find a station yesterday with some gas. Nate, my fiance’ was kind enough to take this photo for this blog article. If you see my car in town, give me a little friendly honk!
It’s not all smiles at the pump. I have to bring a story to you that blows my mind. Have people gone mad? My dear friend, who we’ll call Samantha, was in line to get gas the other day at a Shell station. The line was ridiculously long, but she got up to the front and there was this woman who had already filled up her car, but had not moved forward enough for another car to come behind her. She was holding up the line, and it turns out she had sent out a couple of her friends to go and buy some gas cans at another store and bring them back to her so she could get some “back-up” gasoline on top of what she had already bought.
Samantha asked her if she would pull forward, but was refused. (At this point, several other drivers have started yelling and/or demanding that she move). My friend decided to pull in sideways to the woman’s car so that she could reach the pump. The woman was irate and came over and punched her in the face. Continue to hear what happened next. Samantha pushed her away and asked what the heck was she doing? The woman came back at her, scratching and pulling her hair! At this point, people are coming out of their cars to help my friend, pulling the woman off of her. Eventually the cops came and a report was filed.
I heard this story and was so saddened by the selfishness of this woman and the way she handled herself just because the city was low on gasoline. She felt like it was okay to use violence against a complete stranger to get her way. What can we do to prevent this type of behavior? Is it even possible? Can we only make sure that we are in check and hope that others will act civilized? I am opening this up for discussion. Feel free to comment.
Mel
Hey girlie, I was able to get gas for the first time today and saw attitudes that just really saddened and sickened me. I felt helpless. Even smiling at the other patrons got a glare in return. It was surreal. Anyways, I’m just glad this didn’t happen to you!
Tina Bembry
It reminds me of how the worst in us can come out when we feel our security is at stake. Not everyone reacts that way, but when we see people who do, it’s so chilling and scary. I think of times of war and long term shortage, and how some people would continue to share with others the little they had, and how some people resorted to violence against others who were in the same situation. I think, “there, but for the grace of God, go I” — I don’t see myself getting violent, but I can feel that sense of selfishness and “I gotta take care of myself first” rise up when my safety feels endangered.