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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To sit at the petrol pump for half an hour?!

173 replies

honeybeeridiculous · 17/07/2014 19:07

Right, just been to put some petrol in my car. Pulled up at a pump, started to put petrol in, only £20 so it didn't take long.
Meanwhile white van man pulled up behind me, the pump was closed so he was waiting to use my pump, fair enough
Anyway, I went into shop to pay, 2 people infront of me, all straightforward and quick.
I go back to my car after paying and white van man was revving his engine and getting closer and closer to my car, this is before I got in the car Shock
I get in the car and he continues to rev the engine and then beeped his horn.
I was about to pull away, but the rage got me so I just sat there, got my sunglasses out and put them on, zipped my bag up etc as he was being so rude! After 2 mins I pulled away as I thought he might get out and thump me!
But honestly, how rude!
Just wondered WWYD? WIBU?

OP posts:
WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 20/07/2014 08:58

The only time I have ever pulled forward from the petrol pump before paying I was given a bollocking over the tannoy so I will never do it again.

I'm another who thought WVM was just common parlance for someone who drives a white van in order to carry out their busines and often drives "assertively". I was involved in an incident where a man driving a white van blocked me in with his van and came marching over aggressively to speak to me (my crime was a last minute change of exit on a roundabout when he was still a safe distance behind me but obviously had thought he was going to overtake), I was livid but apologised which took the wind out of his sails. Based on that experience I would not further antagonise such a person, just not worth the aggro.

Rebecca2014 · 20/07/2014 09:00

I agree with Nulliferous who said this was about gender.

Wasn't there a thread recently about women driving on the motorway and men following them and trying to intimidate?

I be taking my driving test soon and I be waiting to see if the sexist attitude on the road towards women is true.

AlpacaLypse · 20/07/2014 09:05

I do a huge amount of short journeys locally, and I have to say that vans are the most likely to let me out of side roads etc. The least likely are the little shopper cars, normally driven by older ladies clutching the wheel like grim death, staring straight ahead and ignoring what's going on beside or behind them.

AlpacaLypse · 20/07/2014 09:09

Also I think the fuel provider industry (they must have an umbrella trade group) should get together and come up with a sign or symbol to tell drivers if they should pull forward to the shop to pay or not. One of the two stations here has the facility to hold multiple transactions on a pump, the other doesn't. The one that has the facility has nothing at the pumps to let you know this, so non-locals often clart the pumps up as they desperately scrabble around in the shop to find £10 of goods, as if you spend £10 or more on groceries, sweeties etc you get 3p a litre off.

Madcatgirl · 20/07/2014 09:12

White van man is a recognised road phenomenon and has been for years. It stands for wankers in large transit vans intimidating and bullying others whilst being obnoxious.

One hit my mum whilst we were both in the car, he was on our side of the road and luckily the only damage was a wing mirror gone, but he got out and started effing and blinding at us, including such choice phrases as you pair of Dumb cunts, your stupid twats, etc. Unfortunately for him he met with the Wong people. We called the police who said 99% of RTA calls to 101 were white van man ones.

Would the professionally offended please fuck the fuck off, thanks.

stripedtortoise · 20/07/2014 09:14

You were both being knobs.

slithytove · 20/07/2014 10:54

What did OP do wrong tortoise that was so knobbish? Put petrol in her car? Queue in the shop? Pay for it?

Blu · 20/07/2014 13:27

Deliberately wait before driving off Tit for tat knobbery. Though admittedly not as bad as his rude and Aggressive impatience.

Bowlersarm · 20/07/2014 13:32

He was being a knob.

She was, calmly, reacting to his being a knob.

settingsitting · 20/07/2014 13:34

Stereotypes in general are about for a reason imo.

fwiw, I would have done exactly like you did op.

I do the saem sort of thing with tailgaters. 9/10 change their behavior for the better.

settingsitting · 20/07/2014 13:35

Mrs Winnibago. Starting a separate thread may be a better idea.

mumtoateen · 20/07/2014 13:41

YABU. He was probably in a rush, and you decided to be a tosser and hold him up. He may have had to be at a job, yet you decide to sit there and hold him up, maybe making him late. maybe he had to be somewhere and his wage depended on it.

Sleepysheepsleeping · 20/07/2014 14:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FryOneFatManic · 20/07/2014 14:40

mumtoateen
YABU. He was probably in a rush, and you decided to be a tosser and hold him up. He may have had to be at a job, yet you decide to sit there and hold him up, maybe making him late. maybe he had to be somewhere and his wage depended on it.

Even if this was his reason, it is no excuse whatsoever for the aggressive behaviour before the OP was able to return to her car. She can't speed up the queue in the kiosk.

And if 2 minutes wait at the pump was enough to make him late, he should have made sure he had plenty of time to get fuel. It's not rocket science.

bumbleymummy · 20/07/2014 15:22

Aren't you supposed to move your car away from the pumps before you go in to pay? A lot of petrol stations have signs for that.

settingsitting · 20/07/2014 15:28

I have never seen one that does.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 20/07/2014 15:31

I've never seen anyone do it either and after my bollocking over the tannoy I'm certainly not going to try. Most petrol stations there's nowhere to pull forward to anyway.

diaimchlo · 20/07/2014 15:39

Honey

Can I ask do you live in the North West? This so sounds like my downstairs neighbour. He will park right up to my bumper even if it leaves his van over the junction lines, then if his partner's car is in front of mine he will go in and reverse it up to my front bumper

As soon as I read your post it reminded me of him Angry

slithytove · 20/07/2014 17:44

Can't pull forward in my local station

tiggytape · 20/07/2014 18:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LRDtheFeministDragon · 20/07/2014 18:29

What would be the point of moving the car forward before you go to pay anyway? Confused The pump can't be used again until you've paid, and I can't see how it'd take a very different amount of time to fill, get in car, pull forward, park, and pay than it'd take to fill, pay, get in car and pull away. They're practically the same set of actions.

nooka · 20/07/2014 18:45

I don't think in general it's either wise or appropriate to further wind up someone who is obviously quite aggressive. If someone is being an arse (which this guy clearly was) then being a bit arsey back (by not moving when you can) is I suspect more likely to make him more aggressive and feel more justified in his aggression. I really doubt he sat back and thought, 'if only I hadn't revved and hooted I would have been filling up by now'. More likely it just reinforced his prejudices and made him more likely to behave the same way in future.

Original poster
honeybeeridiculous · 20/07/2014 19:09

diaimchio I live in the south east so there must be more than one tosspot driver around Grin
There was nowhere to move the car too ( as I have specified more than once!) and in this garage, you can't start filling up your car until the person before you has paid, the pump just doesn't work if you try.
and I will say again he was aggressive before I had even paid for my petrol. How anyone can just ignore that twattish behaviour is beyond me Hmm

OP posts:
TheRealAmandaClarke · 20/07/2014 19:50

Yy nooka

Bowlersarm · 20/07/2014 20:10

Yes, nooks, but that's no reason why we should all indulge his (or someone like him) bad behaviour.