Sheesh, we were only thinking about your child

[Gibbo]

This happened the other day.

A man had put the nozzle into his car but the problem was that his small child was standing next to him so if there was any splashback from the pump it culd have gone into her eyes. It has happened once before so now we are extra vigilant about this and won't authorise a pump when a child is standing too close to a nozzle.

There was a CW outside at the time so we got her attention and she goes to ask him to get the child to go back in the car. When he was walking to the shop to pay we could see from his face that he wasn't happy and was going to kick off about it.

He spent the whole transaction complaining that there wasn't any signs, fuel pumps never splashback and that he wasn't coming back again.

As he was leaving the CW who served him shouted after him

"we were just looking out for your childs safety, which is more than can be said about you!"

[thehuckster]

He spent the whole transaction complaining that there wasn't any signs

Ah yes, the old "if there isn't a sign prohibiting it, then it must be okay and nobody can stop me" principle.

I've never had fuel splash back on me, though. In fact, around here they require pumps to have guards that effectively prevent any splashback from exiting the hole. You'd have to really be doing something wrong if gas is going anywhere but in your tank.

[raudf]

I'd had a pump splash back, or something akin to it, which is why the kid stays in the car. Old man in the car in front of us apparently never learned how to "flick the tip" and put it away while there was still gas in the nozzle. It spilled a bit more than I expected onto my shoes, but if it had been a kid there?

[Whirly_bird]

He spent the whole transaction complaining that there wasn't any signs

Had an idiot ex coworker say that when we were towing into the hangar. Nevermind that it's damn common sense to not ride a aircraft when its moving.

[wolfie]

Ah yes, the old "if there isn't a sign prohibiting it, then it must be okay and nobody can stop me" principle.

I've heard that a lot of people laughed about Husqvarna's English instruction manual being twice as thick as any other language because it had to make room for things like "Warning: Don't try to stop the chain with your hand". Then they got sued by someone who was seriously injured trying to stop the chain with their hand - and they won BECAUSE the manual explicitly said not to do it. If they had counted on common sense, they would have lost.

[Andara Bledin]

I want a citation on that lawsuit.

^-.-^

[EvilEmpryss]

I've never had fuel splash back on me, though. In fact, around here they require pumps to have guards that effectively prevent any splashback from exiting the hole. You'd have to really be doing something wrong if gas is going anywhere but in your tank.

Not all pumps have those neat little rubber splash guards in my state. In fact, if the gas station hasn't been updated in the last twenty years or so, they're highly unlikely to have them, meaning that if the person pumping isn't paying attention the gas can splash out. And that's even with the auto cut-off to stop the overflow.

And even those splash guards are worthless if someone's not got the hose fully seated in the inlet. I've had them splash on me because I like to top off my tank and had the nozzle just far enough in to let the gas flow down into the tank where I can see the level rise up. (yeah, yeah, I know I'm not supposed to top off)

[wolfie]

I want a citation on that lawsuit.

^-.-^

Don't have one - it's something I read about MANY years ago, and stuck in my mind.

[BlaqueKatt]

I had a kid at my gas station PULL THE NOZZLE OUT OF THE CAR, while the father was washing the window, spraying himself in the face. Manager launched over the counter, out the door, scooped the kid, ran back in where I had the "mop sink" hose running while on the phone with 911, this was all done before the father had a chance to react. kid was fine, dad was quite impressed with our quick reactions.

[XCashier]

"we were just looking out for your childs safety, which is more than can be said about you!"

So many parents just don't comprehend the many dangers a curious child can get into. Everyday items can cause serious harm. That's why employees tend to be super careful around children; they don't want to see harm come to them or get in a legal mess.

Yet when you try to warn a kid away from a potential hazard, Mom and Dad immediately jump down your throat. They don't get that you're looking out for the kid; they just assume you're being bossy and mean and keeping the kid from having fun. I've dealt with that myself, and it's just aggrivating.

[rose_metal_nz]

I had a kid at my gas station PULL THE NOZZLE OUT OF THE CAR, while the father was washing the window, spraying himself in the face. Manager launched over the counter, out the door, scooped the kid, ran back in where I had the "mop sink" hose running while on the phone with 911, this was all done before the father had a chance to react. kid was fine, dad was quite impressed with our quick reactions.

That story is pretty awesome, kudos/props to your manager for that

[AnaKhouri]

I don't even allow Khan to get out of the car while I'm pumping gas, because he is intensely curious and very, very bad about listening and following directions. And I'm convinced that spraying gas in his eyes, awful as it is, is probably not even the worst thing he could manage to do to himself. He can always figure out something worst than the worst case scenario.

[EvilEmpryss]

I just finished putting gas in my van. The nozzles at this particular station didn't have those rubber splash guards on the nozzles. As I discovered when the guy on the opposite side of the pump started cussing, the automatic overflow shutoff wasn't working, either. When I peered around the pump to see what the splashing was, there was gas spraying out of his tank around the nozzle, which was stuck on high. Gas was splashing at least six inches out of the inlet.

Yeah, if a kid had been standing there, that could have been really bad.

[VenomX]

I just finished putting gas in my van. The nozzles at this particular station didn't have those rubber splash guards on the nozzles. As I discovered when the guy on the opposite side of the pump started cussing, the automatic overflow shutoff wasn't working, either. When I peered around the pump to see what the splashing was, there was gas spraying out of his tank around the nozzle, which was stuck on high. Gas was splashing at least six inches out of the inlet.

Yeah, if a kid had been standing there, that could have been really bad.

I have had that happen a few dozen times in my years of pumping gas for customers at work. So glad we no longer have gas pumps!

[MadMike]

I've never had fuel splash back on me, though.

I did once, when I was filling the car's gas tank with what I had in the gas can. A little bit splashed me in the face. I wiped what I could with a paper towel, and then I got in the car, planning to take care of it when I got where I was going. About a mile down the road, the fumes started making me extremely nauseous.