Pumping Gas
So, tonight I pumped my own gas. Decades ago, when I was a teenager, I did it a few times as I had lived in another state. Fifteen years or so before tonight, I last did it when visiting Canada on vacation.
Two thoughts: first, the digital part of pumping gas is entirely new for me. Thankfully, we don't have video/audio ads at the place I usually get gas at yet, but I am sure it is coming. Second, I hate pumping my own gas. Of course, I am going to do it every time (unless they change the law) because I hate paying more for full service, which is another thing coming I am sure.
I know the rest of the country is shrugging its shoulders and asking what the big deal is. For me, it is the relentless drive to have customers like myself do the labor for corporations without any consideration or compensation. I am already my own cashier at the grocery store, hand scanning products at ever increasing prices. As I get older, I find I hate the constant barrage of ads, especially those that claim to offer me a benefit, but in reality is just a way for extreme materialism to solely benefit corporations. Self checkouts packed with ads, robotic phone trees that take forever to get through, social media posts that have ads after every second or third post I look at.
Patience is a virtue I have to work on as we continue to navigate our consumerist futures. Everything is treated like a commodity, including things that aren't, like our imaginations or our dignity.
16 August 2023
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