An Ethics Seminar

This is in response to The Office last night and their ethics seminar...

What does it mean to be ethical??

Is it Meredith getting a discount on supplies in exchange for sex???

Is it the AIG corporate people who are part of the financial disaster taking the taxpayers/governments money to go on a spa getaway after getting bailed out? Then getting more money and then proceeding to say they are going on another spa getaway.

What about the guy at the gas station last week that forced the person in front of me (and me too) to move and get gas before us....

I must explain this one, because I have never been so enraged and actually start yelling at some random person at a gas station. :)

If you don't live in the south, perhaps you don't know about the gas shortage here. Gas stations have been running out and typically there have been long lines at stations that do have gas (especially cheap gas) in the past few weeks. I live in a cheap area of the state. In fact, in just my 30 mile commute, gas goes up roughly 40 cents a gallon from where I live to where I work. So yes, I choose to get gas at the cheap stations where I live along with every other person it seems.

Last week (on a Friday) I stopped on my way to work (it is roughly 7:30am). The gas station is a mess and I happen to have one of maybe the 10% of cars that has their gas tank on the right side of the vehicle.

The way this gas station sits, the building is directly behind the 10 or so pumps so it is practically impossible to pull in from the back side of the pumps, since there just isn't room. So I pull in to the gas station and it seems that every line I can pull into has cars facing the rear direction except one. I see a car waiting in line going the way I need to go, granted the car at the pump is pulled in from the other side. I think to myself, yes, I will pull in here and now we can change the way the line moves.

Ok, so the guy finished pumping his gas and needs to leave, so the guy in front of me and myself both back up so he can get out. As we do this a truck pulling a trailer from the other side pulls in.

The guy in front of me gets out of his car and starts yelling at the man in the truck but it is too late, the guy in the truck is at the pump and is saying he was there first and begins pumping his gas. So the car that was in front of me is so mad, he drives off. So it is not me left facing the truck while he pumps his gas.

When he is done he motions for me to back up and I won't move. He gets out of his car and tells me to back up and I refuse. I tell him he can back up since I am not about to let someone else pull into the pump. He tells me that he can't since he has a trailer, which I then proceed to tell him that if he knows how to pull a trailer and since he pulled in, he can just turn his wheel and back himself right out.

We argue a little and he tells me he isn't backing up and I tell him I am not. So we sit. Facing eachother at the gas station. After about 5 min, I get out of my car to go into the travel center to get a coffee and we start yelling at eachother again. A few curse words thrown around, me telling him he has pulled in the wrong way, he then yelling that I don't own the gas station so there is no right or wrong way.

Anyway, I get back in my car and a few minutes later a man from behind the truck pulls up and asks him to move (he wants to pump his gas from the wrong way too instead of waiting in line). Of course the man in the truck tells him I won't move my car and the man behind him explains that if I back up he won't take my space but let me pull. So I agree.

It takes a third person to settle our argument. Not one of my finer moments, but I was not letting this guy in the truck just take advantage of more people. So there.

The funny thing is, I drove by again on Monday and every day since then (since it is on my way to and from work) and now the gas station has ropes and signs and directions saying you can only pull in from the one side! Praise the gas station manager!!!! He has settled the ethics debate.