Sometimes customers are just miserable people.
I work as a gas station attendant between 5 and 10 pm as a closer and I spend a lot of time on my pad in the cold weather just because more gas spills and jumps happen to need to occur around this time for some reason. Over the last two weeks I’ve had to help 7 cars be pushed off my pad away from pumps so they could be jumped, and I’ve had to clean 5 fuel spills because customers are sitting in their car and not paying attention because they want to stay warm.
Anyways, at the start of my previous shift I was called a racist by a man that needed his car jumped. He asked another customer to be jumped, and I said, “Hello sir! You can definitely jump your car, but first we need to push your car off the pad away from gas pumps. I can help with pushing.”
He told me that I needed to figure out how to put his car in neutral then because he wasn’t able to. I told him I was sorry, but beyond pushing his car off the pad, I wasn’t allowed to touch with or mess with the inside of his vehicle. He told me he was going to jump next to the pump then. I explained that wasn’t allowed to happen due to corporate policy and for the safety of himself and the people pumping gas around him, and that if we weren’t able to push his car he would need to call for a tow.
When a car is jumped near a gas pump, especially with other people pumping gas around you, there is a risk of vapors being lit. It causes danger to yourself and to those around you. It’s the same with smoking, having lighters around the pump, etc. while the chance can be small, the what if results if it happens are serious.
Anyways, at this point the man tells me I am a racist. That I work in customer service and shame on me for targeting a black man. That I need to get a new job because I am terrible at customer service. That if he was white this conversation wouldn’t even be happening.
I explained that’s not true, literally three days ago I had to push two cars for white people for the same reason. They needed a jump. He accused me of lying and kept accusing me of being racist. I got fed up. I lost my cool and said, “you know what, shame on you for making this about race. I don’t care what color your skin is, all I care about is that nothing happens to you, your car or the people around you! You are the one using a race card, not me.”
So he jumped his car with a jumper box a customer had given him before we had interacted And thankfully nothing happened. But I feel so guilty because it was the first time I ever thought that I wish something had. I wanted the jumper to fail so bad and for him to get towed anyways.
I was trying to follow the rules and the safety guidelines like I do with every customer. Apperantly a witness went inside and told management that the customer was being unreasonable and I was being as courteous with him as much as possible.
I just feel guilty for getting upset and losing my cool and actually wishing the battery didn’t jump. For wishing he had to get a Tow.