I would prefer if he would only fill the tank.

No, tipping never made it to Malta.

I spoke to a garage employee who told me they get a lot of business from the next door gas station. It seems that people quite regularly fill their cars with the wrong type of gas and then need to go to the garage to empty the tank before it does any damage.

What's the reason for having to go to the cashier after fueling. Ever heard of credit/debit card readers at the pump? Geez!

To pay for your sixty Marlboro and a couple of cans of Red Bull, of course.

Not long after I arrived in Swtzerland some 20 years ago, I was filling up my car at a highway stop on the way to the airport when a bus of tourists arrived. When i went to pay, there was only one cashier working and the queue to pay was very long because everyone wanted to buy something. I queued for ages and the line hardly moved at all.

I was very late for my flight, I was pissed off because there was no attendant (before that I lived in a country where you had attendants), the pump didn't take credit cards, so I deliberately just walked out and drove off without paying.

The next day, on the way back, I stopped by to pay for it. They look surprised and then took some time to search their cash register based on my timing and amount estimates.

I got home and told my Swiss girlfriend - she was aghast and told me to never ever do it again (though like many things in Switzerland, everyone knows what not to do, but no one knows the consequences because no one has tried it...). Her father on the other hand, just shrugged and said that they would have just sent me the invoice by post.

The whole reason to make service stations self service was to get you into a shop to buy overpriced goods. 50 years ago you could only buy oil or petrol from a service station, I think it was BP who first did the shop concept.

It's the same reasoning with toilets at service stations.

Ina couple of ones here, it's a real hike through a maze of shops to get to the loos and then you have to pay (which gets a refund if you buy anything).

In Europe perhaps. 50 years ago was 1971, you had shops in gas stations in N. America long before that. I'd say mid-late '60s.

Many in this area do not have public toilets. The ones on the moterway do, but not many of the local ones.

US being 2-6 years ahead of Europe sounds plausible.

My father left a petrol station without paying once during a visit. I don't know how it happened - he's an old guy.

He was driving my mother-in-law's car and she received a bill in the post some days later. I don't know if or how much or a service fee was added.

Or so we like to believe.......

I always console my mother who complains "she forgets everything these days" that I'm the in the same boat despite being some 28 years younger!

Just tell her that the reason she forgets so much, is because her brain is already full up of very interesting things.

I looked it up. It's called the "Doorway effect":

	Quote:
	...it reveals some important features of how our minds are organised. Understanding this might help us appreciate those temporary moments of forgetfulness as more than just an annoyance (although they will still be annoying). These features of our minds are perhaps best illustrated by a story about a woman who meets three builders on their lunch break. “What are you doing today?” she asks the first. “I’m putting brick after sodding brick on top of another,” sighs the first. “What are you doing today?” she asks the second. “I’m building a wall,” is the simple reply. But the third builder swells with pride when asked, and replies: “I’m building a cathedral!”

Sometimes we are thinking about the task in hand on a different level.

So, in my fridge door example, I may be getting butter out of the fridge to make a souffle but I may actually be thinking of the dinner party at which the souffle will be served when I open the door.

Here

This actually happened to me, unfortunately it was 1. in a rental car, (I don't own a car) 2. while driving in Geneva canton after I had moved to Vaud and notified only the OCP, not (separately) the driver's license office, which I hadn't thought of since I rarely drive.

The result was about 700 CHF in charges, via Shell, Europcar, the Geneva police, the Office des Poursuites, and the people living at one of my old addresses in Geneva, two years later.

I've never forgotten to pay but once in the early 90's returning from Geneva and (unusually) having very little cash on me, I filled up with petrol at a station in the Valais clearly displaying a Visa sign and taking onboard about CHF 110 worth. I went in to pay and was told they no longer accept credit cards and I'd have to pay cash. I only had about CHF 30 on me. Not a problem the attendant told me, and took out a paying in slip writing down the exact amount and which I could pay at the Post Office.

The amazing thing was, my car was still on GB number plates and she never even asked for my address! I remember thinking to myself they won't be in business much longer, but the station is still there, modernized and now taking credit cards.

To some extent (convenience) stores were probably a built-in feature all along. Around here (CH, DE), fuel was originally sold by pharmacies. In the US fuel was sold by grocery stores, the first two specialised stations were built 1905 and 1907, respectively, quite a bit after cars had started to be used.

I was watching a youtube film about classic cars and apparently for older grades of fuel that are now longer offered by service stations, people still do go to the pharmacy.

In New Jersey it’s illegal to pump your own gas https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/...gas-new-jersey