The Gas Pump Has a Few Questions Before We Begin
Getting gas should be a short transaction. The pump has turned it into a little interview.
A gas pump has one job. Put gas in the car. Yet before it gets around to that, the screen may want to discuss your rewards membership.
Do you have a number? Would you like to enter it? Would you like to sign up? No? Fair enough. Let’s talk about a car wash.
The car is sitting there with an empty tank while you decline a series of opportunities. It’s less like buying gas and more like trying to leave a store without making eye contact with anyone.
Then comes the card, the ZIP code, and the instructions to remove the card you already removed. Some pumps are still thinking about it. Please wait.
I understand why a card payment needs checking. I’m less clear on why the machine needs to offer me a car wash before it can sell me the thing printed in enormous numbers on the sign out front. There’s no confusion about why I pulled up beside a gas pump.
And the questions aren’t over once the gas starts flowing. The screen may have an ad to show you, often with sound. That’s a bold choice for a machine whose main appeal is that I can stand outside for four minutes and think about absolutely nothing.
Finally, the pump asks whether you want a receipt. A reasonable question, except it comes after the membership discussion, the car wash proposal, and whatever was happening with the card. By now, a receipt feels less like proof of purchase and more like a transcript.
None of these steps is a major hardship. That’s what makes the whole thing so odd. Each little prompt seems harmless on its own. Stack them together and a machine designed to make a simple purchase quicker has become the most talkative part of the errand.
You select a grade, squeeze the handle, and eventually leave with gas. The pump gets what it wanted too: a chance to ask you about everything else first.
The conversation
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