Petrol station queue and angry man - diagram included

[Popcorninapot]

So a man shouted and swore at me today in a supermarket petrol station. Now he is obviously unreasonable for being unable to control his temper but did my petrol station etiquette deserve his wrath?

Busy supermarket petrol station, four pumps all full, two cars queuing across the back of the petrol station.

Not enough room for me to pull in and queue behind the two cars but staying where I am is causing backlog of cars trying to get into the supermarket car park. So I pull in and queue for the nearest pump (dotted line).

Queuing car 2 is livid that I pushed in, have no patience, shouting and swearing. Now I was genuinely just trying to get out of the way (I am a queue stickler usually!) but my view has always been that you choose a petrol pump to queue in and it's a bit pot luck if it moves faster or slower than the others, not that you line up in order to then be able to choose the first available pump.

Have I been getting this wrong for years? As I was filling my car I noticed subsequent cars using the choose a queue technique but am happy to be told AIBU!

I'm with you. I pick a pump and queue, otherwise it's dangerous and can cause tailbacks onto the road.

He was just wanting to wait for the next vacant pump without guessing which queue it would be in.

I think you were right.

Communal queues at petrol stations do not work!

Communal queues for a bank of cash machines do work. It’s all about maximum efficiency and minimal disruption.

I think he is probably a shouty arse who fancied having a go. Which he would not have done, had you been a 6 foot tattooed builder.

Same in McDonald's. Pick a till and then watch the other queues go down quicker.

Not just me, then?

This is my pet hate. You have to pick a queue not just wait near the entrance for the first pump to be free. I actually saw someone doing this at a dual carriage way station a few weeks ago, he caused the traffic to go back to the slip road

YANBU. You choose a pump and take your chances if the queue moves quicker elsewhere. He was unreasonable for being shouty angry twat.

I thought this was what you were supposed to do? Its what I always do anyway. He was a wanker.

YANBU.

Of course you pick a specific pump. Anything else is lunacy.

What? So the two cars in front were just hedging their bets and blocking the forecourt? YANBU, what a bag of dicks.

What a twat. Just smile sweetly and go "you snooze you lose motherfucker" ☺.
Unless the forecourt is totally empty then you just join the nearest queue and it's pot luck!!! I quite enjoy the gamble of it 😂

Obviously you have to pick a queue! Who seriously thinks they can block a whole forecourt waiting for the first available pump!?

I'd have smiled sweetly and blown him a kiss. Drives angry people mental.

You did the right thing and I would have done the same.

Don’t you think it sucks that women could just be going about their daily business and be subject to verbal abuse like this with no warning. 100% this wouldn’t have happened if you were a man.

What makes men behave like this?

Likewise, I pick a random queue but usually always the slowest one (my luck). You were unlucky to come across a prat.

Why bother anyway wankers like him are two a penny these days.

Just tell him that Jesus loves him and if he'll repent then his soul will be saved in a loud voice, then get's 'em running;)

No no no you do not all queue it's not a post office . You pick a pump and wait behind a car .
Queuing causes congestion into the road and is dangerous . People need to use common sense . If he had a go at me I would of had a go back the idiot !!!

Generally you do pick a pump and join that queue, the layouts of most forecourts lead you into doing that.

Besides some vehicles can only refuel on one side as the nozzle wound reach round over, say, a tall campervan.

I have NEVER seen a single queue at a petrol station waiting for the next available pump, NEVER. Because there's not enough room for such foolishness ... you'd be backing up onto roads and roundabouts! Madness.

Not to mention, some stations do NOT have long hoses, and for those you need to pick a lane that matches the side of your car where you put the petrol in!

He was out of order. End of. You pick your lane and take your chances.

@INeedAFlerken god I have , it only takes 1 arse and the rest follow . I take great pleasure going round queuing cars to the pump.

Impressive diagram. You just need to work a little bit on the scale of some of the cars.
8/10

Now my local petrol station, everyone always joins a communal queue. It is so frustrating seeing empty pumps with no one using them and I can't access it because I'm stuck in a queue of cars. (I appear to be one of those strange people that has the ability to fill my car up regardless of what side the pump is on) So when I get to the actual forecourt if I'm still stuck in the queue and there are available pumps I will happily drive past the idiots waiting for the 'correct' side and use those pumps that they for some reason don't want to. No one has ever said a word to me but I look forward to the day someone does.

Pick a pump and queue behind it. If there was room for you, there was room for the others. They were hedging their bets which is ridiculous as it always blocks the road when people do this.

IMO it all depends on what side your petrol filler cap is .

You have to pick the q dependent on that.

Just recently I followed a Winnebago into a garage that took up the whole ruddy space been the two rows of pumps.

A good job I wasn't in a rush !

The "Diagram Included" made me smile.

I would queue for a specific pump.

An annoying thing for me is people being really slow and bumbling at the pump.

I'm going to remember some of these comebacks for any future run ins with angry unreasonable men!

@Malvinaa81 I'm always tempted in by a diagram....