Whine, bitch, whine... how dare you not open on Boxing Day!

[Chromatix]

I've seen automated pumps in Britain. Usually they form an "express lane" rather than the entire forecourt, but anything's possible. You put your card in first to turn the pump on, and it gives you it back when it's finished the transaction.

The only supervision then necessary is for fuel spills and other unforeseeables.

[wagegoth]

Pretty much every gas station around here is pre-pay. I use my debit or credit card and I don't have to go inside or talk to the attendant, just swipe and go.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Pretty much every gas station around here is pre-pay. I use my debit or credit card and I don't have to go inside or talk to the attendant, just swipe and go.

Although we have a bunch of pre-pay pumps, we still have a few gas stations that have the old-style pumps.

I can think of 4 different stations near me that have them - and they're basically individually owned stores.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Blue striped supermarket of doom recently tried pre pay pumps in our area. Well, nobody had a clue how to use them, and after having to put the same instructions out over the tannoy for every customer, they were dropped very speedily. Folks are morons.

Exactly why self service tills are not going to be put in at *supermarket*; the manager hates them due to the vast amount of idiocy that they provoke and believes they'll double the workload, rather than reduce it. Seeing as I have seen various cretins (ab)using the self service tills in other branches of *supermarket* I'm inclined to agree. -.- Like the woman who just dumped her basket on the self service and waited expectantly. I can see her doing exactly the same thing with the self service pump; standing there waiting for the hose to fly off the pump and dive into her car. -__-

Also, why is it that the same people who stockpile enough food to feed a small army whenever there's an unforseen incident can't ever remember to plan ahead for Christmas, despite it occuring at regular intervals?

And why do the same people always show up on the day after Boxing Day to buy a skipfull of reduced mince pies and Christmas cake? Surely they bought enough food to last for weeks before Christmas? O_o And yeah; Christmas occurrs EVERY year at the SAME TIME. You'd think people would be capable of planning ahead.

[StarsAreFixed]

Lol yes, I've gotten this except here the 26th is St. Stephens Day and has the same sacred closed status as Christmas Day..only a few petrol stations, a few pharmacies and one or two supermarkets..so it's even more ridiculous.

[South Texan]

I seem to remember when i was a kid that EVERYTHING was closed on Christmas/Boxing Day. And we seemed to manage just fine.

Heck, I remember when I was a kid that all stores but grocery, pharmacy and gas in Texas closed on Sunday and even then, only "essential" products could be sold in those stores. K-marts were closed on Saturday so that they could be open on Sunday as the Texas Blue Laws required stores to close for the Sabbath but did not require that Sabbath to be Sunday.

Most supermarkets opened at 8:00 a.m. and closed at 10:00 p.m. That is why convenience stores like Seven - Eleven advertised in their names that they were open earlier and later - though never twenty-four hours. We got along just fine as we planned ahead and knew we had to buy things during certain hours. The first time the Winn Dixie near us decided to open for twenty-four hours, it stopped doing so within a month because no one shopped that late.

[AirHostess]

I'm flying Boxing Day

But as far as I know most shops are still shut and I'm pleased, retail workers need time off too! Everything in the airport will be open too.

[Lace Neil Singer]

A mate of mine is working today; blah. -.- She usually ends up having a rush at first, on booze and batteries, then twiddling her thumbs the rest of the day.