An Open Letter To The Guy With A Lit Cigarette At The Gas Pump

So, I'm pumping my gas in Edgeley, North Dakota yesterday, minding my own business, when I smelled the familiar smell of a lit cigarette.  I looked up to see signs posted everywhere, "No Smoking."  They were on the pumps, on the pillars, and even on the windshield cleaning fluid trough.

I figured there was no way it could be somebody pumping gas.  We have all seen the videos of some "yahoo" pumping gas with a lit cigarette going up in flames.  In fact, here's one in case you haven't.

You would think it would be common knowledge right? You don't smoke and pump gas. Getting back to my story, I was hoping the smell was coming from somebody smoking right outside the station. Nope, the smell was way too close for that. I took a look at the guy pumping gas next to me. Sure enough, he had a big cigarette hanging outside his mouth.

My first instinct was to tell my teenage kid to get out of the car and go inside.  I wanted to make sure he was protected.  I then proceeded to ask the guy with Texas plates, "Do you really think you should be pumping gas with a lit cigarette?"  He told me,  "Mind your own business."  I then preceded to tell him, "You made it my business when you started to do something so stupid."  He just gave me one of those,  "I'm going to kill you kind of looks."

Not wanting to see the inside of a LaMoure County jail cell, I went and got the station attendant, to let him deal with the dip $hit.  I could see they exchanged some heated words, and the guy finally dropped his cigarette to the concrete and put it out with his foot.

As I walked back to my truck with my kid, I got that look of death again.  I told him to have a nice day and drove off.

What would you have done?