Should I rant? Cell phone at the gas pump.

[marko]

Sure, a part of me wants to get into it with him, but then I figure if he's stupid enough to light up while pumping gas, that cause-effect and consequences probably don't really work their way through his brain like most normal people.

IMO, these are "problems that regulate themselves".

You may not be there to see it but someday, somewhere this idiot will do something else idiotic and become a winner of a Darwin award.

 

[ponyboy]

I'm sure he was a very important person conducting very important business that simply could not wait.

Why would you feel its necessary to bash someone for talking on a cell phone when they're doing something as trivial as pumping fuel? Was it affecting anyone? Last I checked it only requires one functioning hand to pump fuel.

The big issue people have with cell phones is they cant hear what the other person is saying. Everyone needs to mind their own business. Would you have reacted the same if the person pumping fuel was talking to someone else standing next to them? No one ever cares if 2 people are standing/sitting next to each other having a convo...yet when its just one person on a cell phone they're automatically a tool bag or "they're so important" blah blah. Interesting.

 

[Gumby]

Why would you feel its necessary to bash someone for talking on a cell phone when they're doing something as trivial as pumping fuel? Was it affecting anyone? Last I checked it only requires one functioning hand to pump fuel.

The big issue people have with cell phones is they cant hear what the other person is saying. Everyone needs to mind their own business. Would you have reacted the same if the person pumping fuel was talking to someone else standing next to them? No one ever cares if 2 people are standing/sitting next to each other having a convo...yet when its just one person on a cell phone they're automatically a tool bag or "they're so important" blah blah. Interesting.

I could give a rat's fat butt what he is saying or what his conversational partner is saying. Given that he is pumping a dangerously flammable liquid, I would like him to devote his attention to the task. You know, there's an old saying I heard down South when I was young -- hit dog hollers. Seems likely.

 

[dasranger]

I will not go to a gas station that does not allow you to mute their commercials.

 

[Winemaker]

The technical answer is, unless the cellphone is " Intrinsically Safe " , it should not be even powered up in the vicinity.

Back when I slaved in an underground coal mine, the risk of igniting methane released during the mining process was mitigated by the use of Permissible equipment and intrinsically safe equipment. In an intrinsically safe equipment, the voltage had to be below 12 volts, as the spark would not be hot enough to ignite methane, which is about 1000 degrees F. The ignition temp of gasoline vapors is 495 degrees F. A cell phone battery is 3.7 volts.

I would think you would have a bigger explosion risk with a spark from a running alternator under the hood.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I will not go to a gas station that does not allow you to mute their commercials.

Now THERE’S a valid gas station rant!

 

[ERD50]

Back when I slaved in an underground coal mine, the risk of igniting methane released during the mining process was mitigated by the use of Permissible equipment and intrinsically safe equipment. In an intrinsically safe equipment, the voltage had to be below 12 volts, as the spark would not be hot enough to ignite methane, which is about 1000 degrees F. The ignition temp of gasoline vapors is 495 degrees F. A cell phone battery is 3.7 volts.

I would think you would have a bigger explosion risk with a spark from a running alternator under the hood.

Interesting. I hadn't thought of the relationship between voltage and the temperature of the spark.

I did find this from wiki, which I was familiar with but forgot the actual number:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_spark

For air, the breakdown strength is about 30 kV/cm at sea level
​

But I haven't found anything about spark voltage/distance that tell me the temperature of the spark. Lots of hits for spark plugs, but that's different as they fire in a compressed air environment.

-ERD50

 

[scrabbler1]

About 15 years ago, I pull up to the pump, and a gruff looking guy two pumps down lights up a cigarette while he's pumping his gas. I ask him as nicely as I can to put out the cigarette.

He gives me some kind of "eff-off' response. Sure, a part of me wants to get into it with him, but then I figure if he's stupid enough to light up while pumping gas, that cause-effect and consequences probably don't really work their way through his brain like most normal people. So I just drove off to fill up later.

Felt like a wimp, but I stayed out of the hospital.

-ERD50

Because I pay for my gas with cash, when I went inside to pay, I would mention it to an employee who would surely be interested in getting the offender to put out the cigarette.