A crowded gas station: no rebates for you

It was the perfect storm. I’m a big fan of filling my tank at gas stations where I can get rebates from apps on my phone. Seventeen cents per gallon back to me in cash? I’m on my way.

I couldn’t even pull into the parking lot of the convenience store. First, I encountered a garbage truck waiting to get to a dumpster blocked by a parked van. Who knew when that driver would come back out?

A jeep was parked in the middle of three pumps, blocking one side. A couple of guys with tools were working under the hood. They weren’t going anywhere soon.

On the other side of the pumps, a pickup with a trailer full of lawn-cutting equipment blocked off two pumps. Beyond him was yet another pickup and a person doing something with the underground fuel tanks.

Every parking spot in the front of the store was occupied, and construction trucks were parked on the sides of the road out front.

I watched for a few minutes as the driver of the garbage truck impatiently waited to pull in, the driver of the truck with the trailer tried to back out, the guys working on the jeep crawled underneath to get a look at what was going on, and no one was coming out of the store.

This out-of-the-way store rarely has customers. That’s why they offer larger rebates. Forget this. I’ll find another place to fill up.