gas station perezhivanie

Sometimes all it takes to feel your age - good or bad - is to take a trip to the gas station.

And by the way, yes, the above mug is a real thing.

I have been a fan of gas stations for a long time and have been to many. Probably well over a thousand by now. Mom-and-pops in the middle of nowhere, sketchy places in dirty neighborhoods, highfalutin super-clean ones in wealthy cities, big trucker stops, and so on. I've experienced pretty much all types of them.

One thing I particularly appreciate about gas stations is it's a place where technology is paused. There is absolutely no time to work out system bugs for cutting edge technologies in an environment like that. As a result, older proven technologies are used instead. True, you can pay by phone these days, but that is the slowest way to complete a transaction at the pump or inside the store. At the gas station, how to pay for anything from best to worst is cash, debit, credit, phone. I doubt that will ever change.

If you think tech is moving along too fast, the gas station experience is like going back in time 30 years ago. At a freshly built brand new trucker stop, sure, you'll see some modern tech (usually at the pumps), but without looking too far in the same place you'll also see other stuff that looks and feels like the late '90s, even though new. Why? Because that's what works best in a place like that.

Gas stations are for adults, and rarely do you see children in one since other than the candy and sodas, there's nothing there for them. You also don't see pretty people at the gas station either.

Those you do find at gas stations are regular people. Thoroughly average Joes and Janes getting fuel, and maybe a drink, snack, lottery ticket, whatever.

The closest thing I've ever seen to hot women at the gas station are medical girls, and they usually only appear during morning hours before their shift starts. She drives in, fuels up, comes in the store. Her outfit is, of course, scrubs. Sometimes blue, sometimes purple, sometimes red. Scrubs are one of the least sexiest things a woman could wear, and that's fine because clothing like that is built for purpose and not style. I say this because a woman in scrubs, unsexy as that may be, is as close as you'll get to seeing a hot woman as the gas station. Also, the reason they show up at the gas station and other women don't is because they're braver, with the general attitude of, "I'm in scrubs, I don't care, and I just need to fuel up and grab a Bai before I go to work."

Generally speaking, the age range of people you see buying things at gas stations is 40 to 65. Yep, middle aged people. The people working there might be younger (and often are), but the patrons are middle aged by default.

In the past back in my 20s, I started going to gas stations a lot just because I like driving so much. Back then, I was the youngest guy in the store. Then I reached my 30s. Then my 40s...

...then I reached the fifth decade of life.

Am I the oldest guy in the store now?

Not quite yet, but getting there.

Does that bother me?

No.

Gas stations are regular-people places. At no point will I ever get side-eyed by anybody with the incredulous look of, "What's he doing here?", because nobody cares.

Sometimes when I see somebody else in the store that looks to be about my age, I think, "I'm the same age as that guy."

Does that bother me?

No.

But it is a small reality check every time that happens. It's a reminder that I'm not young. I'm not old (as in not elderly) either, but still, not young.

I'm okay with that, but it's weird because I really don't feel the age I am.

There are positives and negatives to being in the fifth decade of life.

An example of one of the more annoying negatives is getting "sir'd" in a condescending way, usually by a store employee, just for asking a simple question.

But I argue the positives outweigh the negatives. One of the biggest positives is that for any - and I mean any - store I go into, I don't get grief from anybody (save for the "sir'd" types). Those working there see my plainclothes look, then seen the gray on my head, and think, "Yep, that guy is safe."

Being middle aged with gray on top is like wearing a loud flashing neon sign that says "WILL NOT DESTROY YOUR STORE". That's a good thing.

At the gas station, who do you see most? Middle aged guys either with gray hair or bald heads. I'm one of them, and that's just fine.

Published 2025 May 1