Impatient people at the petrol station

[asblindasabat]

went To the petrol station this morning to fill up my car on my way to work.

I paid at the pump, put the fuel in my car and got back into my car again to drive off.

There was a woman in her car using the pumps behind me and she had finished filling her car and so was waiting for me to leave the forecourt to facilitate her exit as there was no room for her to get through until left as there were pumps on the other side which were being used.

I had got into my car, used some hand sanitiser and then switched on my engine to get ready to go.

As soon as I got into the car, she had driven her car from her pump right up to the tail end of my car as if to say hurry up in a really passive aggressive way - for context, I drove off within a minute of getting back into my car.

AIBU to think these people should just chill out and have some patience? It’s not like I was sitting there dithering for 5 minutes!

I agree OP and wish people were a bit more patient.

I'm often putting my satnav on when I get back into the car and maybe opening a can of drink I've bough so I'm not doing so dangerously on the motorway. I only take 2 minutes but often have someone pushing up behind me. It's really rude.

Particularly in motorway services it can take a minute to get ready to be back on the motorway. Everyone chill out please!

It's reasonable to give it a couple of minutes though.

Sometimes people need to do something minor in their car before getting back onto the road, such as set up their sat nav, open a drink, plug in their phone or whatever.

More than a couple of minutes is excessive but you can't expect people to be ready to drive off onto the motorway as soon as they shut their car door.

Did your tailgater have a car behind them waiting to use the pumps?
It's happened to me before, and I have pulled forward, just to say ' I see you, but can't move for the faffer in front' 😅

You’re really struggling with this, aren’t you?

The people behind you don’t know! They have no idea if you’re going to be 20 seconds, a minute, 5 minutes.

Unless you get in and drive off - they don’t know how long you’re going to faff.

So they get impatient.

you can't expect people to be ready to drive off onto the motorway as soon as they shut their car door

But surely the sensible thing to do is go and sit in the car park, go to the loo if you need to, buy what you need at the shop and THEN go and get petrol. Then you can just leave.

Faffing about annoys me too. If you know someone is waiting for you, don't dither, get out of the way. This applies generally, not just at petrol pumps.

Don't get me started on those petrol stations that have a mini supermarket attached... you could be sitting there for half an hour

Yes they are so annoying. I think I mentioned on another thread the other week that my local petrol station took out the pay at pump option to force people to go inside to pay, so you are waiting to pay for petrol behind people buying lottery tickets, shopping etc.

There is too much faffing in a petrol stations especially involving handbags and children's car seats. Given a choice I follow white van man or a taxi driver into the pumps as generally there is less faffing they can't hang around as it's lost money.

Have you actually driven in Spain France or Italy?

I think this boils down to two sorts of people.

1. Faffers
2. People with zero tolerance for faffers.

I’ve got my own day to be getting on with. I’m not interested in waiting for random old you to sort yourself out in your car.

As I said upthread, I won’t pull up right behind you or do anything to let you know I’m annoyed. But I will be sitting in my car annoyed and willing you to MOVE!

I was getting petrol and this woman drove up behind me when there wasn't a pump available blocking me in

She had the cheek to say she was on her lunch hour like I was to blame

OMG agree - it’s my observation that Brits are far more tirelessly patient than any other nationality when it comes to queuing. You’ve turned it into an art form!

Was going to say the same thing as @SarahAndQuack And if you reverse into her it's definitely your fault.

I'm with others, hate people faffing at petrol stations. Seatbelt and drive off should be all it takes. I also dislike rudeness though, sand it's hard to gage if she was being passive agressive or if you were being over sensitive. She could be getting pressure from those behind her to move forward herself.

Well if you’re going to do all that just pull off the pump and park somewhere else on the forecourt to do your faffing!

Yep cos when we’re driving long journeys we should all prioritise your desire to needlessly occupy the petrol pumps whilst you have a drink, sort your sat nav out etc.

the folk hogging the pumps and making others wait needlessly are the rude and entitled ones. Pull into a parking space if you need to faff.

I wonder if petrol station faffers are the same people who will queue for 5 mins for checkout or service at a cafe and only then think to get their purse out of their bag.

And the bag is large, with a complicated zip.

And then they want to use a gift card, and top up with cash for the remainder.

And, just as you are about to explode in a ball of silent rage, they spend another minute closing the many sided purse, putting it in the right internal pocket of enormous bag, and then struggle to zip it back up.

Aghhhh

Just sort your shit out!

As I’ve got old I’ve realised the huge value of just taking a moment before setting off - set the sat nav,, have a sip of water etc. Make sure mirrors ok. Don’t be put off by a dickhead behind you trying to hassle you off the mark, or accusing you of “faffing”. We’re talking 60 seconds.

Not taking those 60 seconds could cause an accident later down the road.

Sure it’s annoying if someone is eg having a long conversation before setting off, or chatting away at the supermarket til when there’s someone behind, but in fact it’s not that critical.

What is wrong with your driving if you are liable to cause an accident without a satnav or a sip of water? Checking your mirrors as you move off is basic, but you shouldn't need to adjust them when you've just been driving, should you?

If you want to drink before you start driving, or to set your satnav, you pull in elsewhere to do it. Surely you can do that safely?

Last time we were in a petrol station it was full; we were behind an empty car waiting to advance to a pump where the owner had gone to pay. As we sat, I idly watched a man outside the shop on his phone to someone, sipping a coffee.

He finished his call ... and came back to his car! He'd been standing round phoning someone occupying a space while others were queuing. He did at least have the grace to nod at us apologetically when he got back and saw us waiting.

No big deal in the scheme of things, we weren't in a hurry, but inconsiderate and mildly irritating.

Sometimes I pull forward to allow the person queuing behind me to access the pump I have finished with. I,m not being impatient with the person in front, just trying to help the person behind

If you'd put your car in reverse and hit her that would 100% be your fault. You need to look in the direction you are travelling.

It takes literally a couple of seconds and just makes your mindset nice and calm

I knew Id get silly comments like that when I posted.

Full licence since 1996, always clean, never one single accident of any kind, frequent driver incl long distance and both London and countryside as well as abroad.

You don’t need to adjust your mirrors at a petrol station though. You literally just drove in there, presumably with the mirrors adjusted when you got in your car at home (or wherever you were when you got in).

I guess that’s evidence then.

a sip of water at a petrol station prevents accidents.

can’t argue with that logic 😂