Old and senile

[BroSCFischer]

I was with my mom, and we stopped at a gas station, in need of fuel. As I went in to pay cash (and save $.05 a gallon) an elderly lady (she appeared to be at least 80) was exiting, so I held the door for her.

I went to the register, and told the cashier the amount and which pump. He then asks me to help the old lady, because she doesn't know how to pump gas. I agree.

I go out, and tell the lady she needs to pull close to the pump. There is about 5 feet of concrete next to the pump, and only her right two tires are actually on it. While she moves her car, I get my mom's pump started. I turn to see how she did, and it doesn't even look like she got any closer.

So, I tell her again to get closer, and I watch her move the vehicle back and forth (it's a small sedan, not one of those old boats), and maybe manage to get an inch or 2 closer.

This time, I try to give a bit more direction, telling her to try to get all four wheels on the concrete. My mom at this point offers to move her vehicle, which I agree might help, and the old lady proceeds to pull in where my mom had been previously. I am at this point gesturing her to keep coming, and eventually get to the point that she is close enough to pump safely.

She already had the panel open and the cap off, so I pull the nozzle of the pump, and after the cashier makes sure the money was switched to the new pump, aske her which kind she wants, put the nozzle in her tank, squeeze the handle and flip the switch to hold it in place. I then show her what I did, so she knows for next time, and get back to my mom's car.

Oy vey,

SC

[telecom_goddess]

ok really? She's been alive that long and supposedly has driven for quite some time and didn't know how to do that?

[Shpepper]

It is possible, especially if she has recently lost a spouse of many years. I have known women who did not know where gas went in their cars because their spouse always made sure there was gas in the car for them. I personally have not pumped gas in well over a year. My guy makes sure there is gas in the car or we are together and he does it for me.

[Food Lady]

How do I get one of those, Shpepper?

[raudf]

I had a teacher in high school that was about 65 to 70 years old and one day she came in bragging that she had finally pumped her own gas for the first time. When she started driving, full service was common, but as it got phased out, her husband or other family member would take the car to get it filled.

Now, imagine a room full of high schoolers going, WTH?! Most of us had pumped gas, either for our own cars or for our parents by that point! She was very, very sheltered as far as we were concerned.

[LillFilly]

It's nice that you helped, but I find it odd that the Employee would ask a random customer to help another customer; wouldn't that be the Employee's job?

[Pagan]

ok really? She's been alive that long and supposedly has driven for quite some time and didn't know how to do that?

It's entirely possible. My grandmother was 92 when she died and not only did she not know how to pump gas, she didn't really know how to drive.

[telecom_goddess]

It's entirely possible. My grandmother was 92 when she died and not only did she not know how to pump gas, she didn't really know how to drive.

I can understand the not knowing how to drive part, I don't drive myself and of course haven't pumped gas ever. BUT if someone is driving I find it odd that they don't know how to pump gas, women or no. Where were they when the women's rights movement was going on 30 years ago?? You know, independence, equality, all that......

[Kheldarson]

Probably in a comfortable relationship with set standards of behavior where they weren't required or inclined to learn how?

Frankly, if I hadn't have had a merit badge about car maintenance in Girl Scouts, I probably wouldn't know half of what I do about the car. Because, honestly? I put gas in and then take it to somebody else who knows and cares more about cars than I do for everything else.

Independence and equality /= inclination to learn.

Anyway, I'm curious as to why BroSC got asked to help out as well. Was the employee the only one there and it was late or was the employee just, well, not interested?

[Kanalah]

There are a lot of my grandmother's friends who either do not have a driver's license and/or have never pumped gas.

[Raveni]

At C-Store I would often run into women who had either lost their spouse or were from Jersey. Either way, they had never forseen that they would ever need to pump their own gas.

[Pagan]

I can understand the not knowing how to drive part, I don't drive myself and of course haven't pumped gas ever. BUT if someone is driving I find it odd that they don't know how to pump gas, women or no. Where were they when the women's rights movement was going on 30 years ago?? You know, independence, equality, all that......

Probably in a comfortable relationship with set standards of behavior where they weren't required or inclined to learn how?

Independence and equality /= inclination to learn.

At C-Store I would often run into women who had either lost their spouse or were from Jersey. Either way, they had never forseen that they would ever need to pump their own gas.

Kheldarson and Raveni, exactly. You have to put it context of their generation. My grandmother was born in 1918, before women were even allowed to vote. Women were not encouraged to be independent. When I say "hardly knew how to drive", she knew perfectly well how to, but didn't like to, and was a terrible driver on top of it.

[BroSCFischer]

Since there have been a few questions about it, I will address why I may have been asked to help.

#1) The employee was the only one in the store.
#2) The employee was of foreign descent and had a thick accent.

He didn't strike me as lazy as he was paying attention to what we were doing and switched the pumps as soon as he saw the lady pulling up to a different one.

SC