10 Things I've Learned from Working at a Gas Station

I've been working at Rhodes 101 for almost four weeks now and there are a lot of things I've learned and realized working at a gas station. I'm here to give you just a few. Some will happen to everyone, others will only happen to some of you.

1. People want good customer service, but they don't want you to be too happy.

I used to work overnights at a gas station (for a very short period of time) and people actually complained to my boss that I was "too peppy" in the mornings. I'm a happy person and see no reason to be negative with people who haven't been a complete ass to me.  Plus, 4 a.m. meant my shift was almost over. I thought this was just an overnight thing, but it turns out people still get pissy in the afternoon. I've been at Rhodes for less than a month and I've already had three or four people tell me "You are way to happy" to my face.

2. Men give no fucks who is in the bathroom with them as long as they're sure their dick is covered.

At Rhodes, we do not close the bathrooms when they are being cleaned which means that when I go to clean the men's bathroom it's a complete pain in the ass because for every dude that comes in there while I'm cleaning, I just need to get the fuck out until they are done. In the (less than) month that I have been there, I cannot even count how many times I've heard someone walk in while I was cleaning and said "Give me two seconds and I'll be out of here." and while I'm gathering my cleaning supplies, they say "okay," and then continue to walk into the stall or up to the urinal and start pissing anyway while I'm still in there. It's just incredibly awkward and I am not fan.

3. Young women don't want anyone to hear them pee.

When anyone under the age of 30 comes into the bathroom when I'm cleaning the women's bathroom, they immediately say "I'm sorry" and walk right back out. Even if I catch them in time to say "It's fine, just use the one I'm not cleaning," they always just say they'll wait.

4. Older women have no shame GIANT dump while you're trying to clean the other stall.

They walk in, don't even acknowledge that I'm there, and proceed to walk in to the nearest stall and let a big one rip followed by intense shit hitting water. My God, I always have to go spray after they do this.

5. Some people actually tip gas station workers.

It's usually people that are coming through drive through, but I didn't even realize this was a thing. The other day, I had someone buy a soda for $1.25, give me $2, and told me to keep the change. Usually people don't worry about the pennies, but when it comes to nickels, dimes, and quarters, people still give that shit up. It's kind of awesome.

6. People are extremely surprised if you have tattoos and they see them outside of your job.

We aren't allowed to have any tattoos showing at the gas station. I had a once a day customer come in the other day after I got off work and stop me to talk to me. He told me that he had seen me at Wal-Mart with all my tattoos showing and almost didn't recognize me. He was very kind and complimented them and told me about how he couldn't get them and why. It was an interesting experience.

7. People ask for directions at gas stations A LOT.

Considering we have very few men working at Rhodes, this one kind of makes me laugh a lot. Everyone someone asks me where something is, I always have the urge to say "You're asking a woman for directions. What are you thinking?" Instead I usually grab one of my coworkers and see if they might know where it is. 

8. If you have a non-conservative look to you, the drugees will try to connect with you.

You all have seen my hair. It's shaved extremely short on one side and completely on the back and I only have bangs. Meth heads tend to compliment my hair, talk about their own hair/piercings, and then get pissed off that we don't take food stamps. Ugh.

9. People hate breaking $100 bills at gas stations.

They worry so much about whether we can break it or not. Before I worked at Rhodes, I hated breaking $100 at gas stations too. Unless you have caught us right after we cashed out the drawer, we probably have change for it. If we don't have the 20's, you might just have a few more ten dollar bills than expected. Hey, at least you feel less bad about breaking 10's than 20's, right?

10. A good amount of people will hit on you. Some of them will be attractive, most will not.

In my four weeks working there, I have not had a single attractive person hit on me, but I got invited to a labor day party where they bought enough beer to get an army drunk. So that was cool. Otherwise, It's usually just super old creepy guys that haven't gotten laid in ages.

So folks, this is what I have learned in my month of working for a gas station. I'm sure I'll have some more crazy stuff for you later, so keep updated.