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Are you f**king crazy or something? When I pulled in to gas up last night, I thought you were participating in some type of hidden camera stunt for a new reality show. Smoking while filling up your SUV? Really? And not just one cigarette, but a second one, too? I don't much care that you're poisoning yourself. I'll even say that I'll support your right to smoke outside of your office building, even though the D.C. Council wants to make it illegal. But smoking while surrounded by thousands of gallons of a highly flammable liquid isn't a matter of personal liberty, unless you think that the Constitution allows you the right to level a full city block in a residential neighborhood. I don't think it does. I'd bet that even libertarians don't think so. And telling me that you've been pumping gas longer than I've been alive doesn't so much remedy the fact that you could have BLOWN US ALL UP. All you proved is that you're old and crazy. Sure, I would have loved to have a first-person narrative for DCist on what an exploding gas station looks like. Had I survived. But I wouldn't have. So that's that. For the sake of those of us who want to avoid being a casualty of someone looking to win the annual Darwin Award, please don't smoke while gassing up. Thanks. Sincerely, Martin.
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We went to the Macy's at 12th & G this morning for the Black Friday morning specials. There was a sh
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Did the suv have truck nutz?
I'm thinking a "Palin-skoalrebel 2012" bumpersticker.
In all fairness, gas station attendants used to routinely smoke while they filled your cars, back when there were such things as gas station attendants.
You shouldn't use your cell phone while filling up, but nearly everyone does it.
You should "ground" yourself before touching any metal while filling up, but I know of no person who does that.
C'mon now. There's no fairness needed here. This lady was a step short of holding a lit match and having a gasoline fight, Zoolander-style.
Actually, she was pretty far from that. A lit cigarette is not a lit match. The sparks produced are very small and usually burn out before even hitting the ground. Plus, the distance between the cigarette and the gasoline vapor (which is the flamable part) is a few feet.
Again, I wouldn't do it. But I wouldn't go ranting to a blog if I saw it done.
Well, maybe it was the fact that she was breaking what I consider to be one of those "Well, duh!" rules. Kind of like wearing a helmet when you ride a bike. Or texting while driving. I'm also having a little fun. Jeez.
I've always thought that testing just how volatile smoking at the pump can be would make for a fantastic Mythbusters segment.
I think Mythbusters actually already did this. They were testing the movie cliche of the bad ass tossing his cigarette into a pool of gas. As I recall, they couldn't get a flame to start.
Not that I'd want to test this myself, but you may not have been in that much actual danger.
Yeah, probably true, but still something I would rather not see at a gas station.
They also tested cell phones and filling up at gas stations and failed to start a fire or get an explosion
They also did the "don't use your cell phone at the pump" myth and proved it impossible to ignite gasoline because of a cell phone.. I mean.. really? A cellphone?
It is technically not impossible, but is extremely unlikely (to the point of never having to worry about it).
I work at chemical facilities that require you to shut off cell phones for the same reason. They also agree that it's overcautious, but they deal with solvents much more volatile than gasoline.
Ok...so teh gayz want to marry urban chickens, Michael Vick wants to become a rural hipster, and smoking outside Tommy Wells house gives you gas.
I has head explody.
Martin, so did you approach the guy and tell him the danger he was posing?
Yeah, I told her. That's when she said, "Son, I've been pumping gas longer than you've been alive."
Too bad you didn't have a gun.
+1
He really should write to his congressperson about this. Oh, wait....
You should have told her she was worse than Hitler.
And then lit up your strawberry blunt.
at least you're not black...
You do know that an exposed flame will NOT cause a gas station to blow up Die Hard style, right? Bad Idea? Yes, is you might have some gas on your hands or on your pants, but underground gas tanks have safety caps that shut off when exposed to extreme heat, and have for the past 40 years or so.
Didn't the MythBusters prove that a lit cigarette will not ignite gasoline, even when dropped into a puddle of the stuff?
MythBusters don't make a claim one way or the other but this video speaks for itself..
http://www.tooshocking.com/view-4676-Gas_Tankers_And_Cigarettes_Dont_Mix
There is an ad at the beginning but at least it too has exploding vehicles.
How is this news or worthy of clogging up my RSS feeder with one additional post?
sounds like you found the winner of today's "worse than hitler on the road™" award, martin, even if they weren't on the road at that point.
this isn't your personal blog, martin. take it elsewhere. seriously.
it's not your personal blog either. what's your point?
Hey, what blows up in Cleveland Park stays in Cleveland Park. Unless there's an election and the votes are going against the incumbents, in which case they cancel the election. Then they burst into flames.
I'm going to have to go with 1)how is this news? Did you mean to post this to a personal blog and just majorly screw up? and 2) yeah, nice of you to get all upset, but it's not that big of a deal to smoke around pumps. We had a fire start at a local filling station when I was in high school (I can't recall if it was from cigarettes or a cell phone) but it really didn't do that much damage. And it certainly didn't level a city block. It caused a little fire damage around 2 of the pumps and the roof. No big whoop.
Jeez. My apologies to those of you who are seemingly off-put by this. Wow.
don't let the snarks get you down, man.
you don't understand why regaling us with your personal crazed rantings is not appropriate for dcist?
Until they remove the ban on wearing your pants around your ankles and ranting crazily on the sidewalk, DCist remains the only safe haven for crazed personal ranters. Like this one time when I was taking a dump, the guy in the cube next to me sounded like he was having a heart attack or poopin a cocoanut or something. So I start banging on the stall, "Hey! Keep it down in there! Some of us gotta concentrate!" No sooner had I yelled that when I hear what sounds like a ten-pound sack of flour hitting the water. Then my eyes start watering and I start hacking my guts up. It was like some kind of pickled egg mustard gas attack. So I wipe my self up and get the f**k out of there and I don't think Stinky McButtpoo next door even budged. He just kept wheezing. So I'm like, "Jesus Christ, pal! See a goddamned doctor because healthy people should not be making those kinds of sounds or smells!"
Only later did I find out that it was in fact Henry Kissinger. Color me embarrassed.
Apology accepted, Martin, even though I think it was half-hearted at best. Blogging an incident like this doesn't add up to much more than passive-aggressive complaining, in hopes that the commentati (Did I get that right, DPR?) will give you a big hug. There are plenty of actions that might have provided more real-time satisfactory outcomes for you in this situation. To me, this type of writing is about unresolved anger or frustration or some other personal stuff.
Tater,
Seriously, it was more of a snarky and purposely exaggerated response to something I experienced. That's it. Just having a little fun, really.
OK. In that case, I give you a pass for a failed experiment!
I dig it, Martin. It was a fun rant that led to an informative discussion--I honestly don't ask for much more.
It's not like you were giving us personal details about your sex life or anything-btw, how is your sex life?
That's a post for tomorrow.
something crawled up inside a lot of people and died today (between this thread and the chicken one)...
Yeah, this thread could definitely use some more diseased cocks.
here's the thing—i think we're looking at a lot of healthy cocks, not diseased ones. there have to be a fair number of people who are excited about that prospect, no?
kebhouse, you had cell phones in high school? That makes me feel old.
You feel old? My first email address was 243223@compuserve.com
Didn't compuserve addresses have commas?
I no longer remember my prodigy account name. Whose great idea was it to randomly assign a string of characters and numbers?
I don't know, but if you type "AOL Keyword: email" you might find an answer.
I'm with Martin on this one - just plain dumb of her. It would be perfect business that should ban smoking within 25 feet (FWIW, as long as it's not another post about Molly, I'm happy).
Like riding a bike with no helmet and not wearing seat belts, I am in favor of allowing, and even encouraging, people to engage in this sort of activity.
Most likely the only person they would hurt is themselves. Best to let stupid people kill themselves off. Why make laws that interfere with the natural process of evolution?
A few weeks ago I was walking down 9th Street NW by the BP and I saw gallons and gallons of gasoline pouring out of a Ford Explorer sitting at a BP pump. At first I thought it was water but then I realized it was coming from where the gas hose was entering the tank. All the sudden I realized the driver was inside the Explorer, smoking a cigarette AND talking on her cell phone, without any clue that the shut-off valve had failed and that she was in grave danger. I started yelling and waving at her to look at her pump. She looked out the window and hung up the phone and started cursing. Luckily, she put out the cigarette in her ashtray and didnt throw it outside or else the entire 9th St. BP would have blown up.
Would a cigarette make an American Apperal model explode? What if she was soaked in gasoline?
I don't think so. Models are that peculiar type of person who seems to subsist solely on a diet of cigarettes, drama, and semen.
I am also inclined to agree with Martin on this (gasp). I don't give a flying F whether Mythbusters or anyone else has "tested" this, ignition source + flammable material does not = fun.
I also want to point that Martin is pure advertising gold - most of his postings recently are a guaranteed sh$tstorm of comments! He's like the human equivalent of MOLLY!(TM)
YES! Dread and I agree on something. Maybe it's time I take you out to a nice dinner with all these ad dollars I'm taking in.
Have you noticed they both look alike? I think it is the hair.
Agreed. This rant has something that everyone can hate on: SUV drivers, smokers, crazy old people, libertarians, Cleveland Park, spontaneous combustion, austermuhling. It's like a big, beautiful xmas gift wrapped in violent explosive diarrhea.
Would have been better if he was carrying a gun and had a I Heart Ensign bumper sticker.
I actually like my cigarettes dipped in gasoline...oh wait...that was PCP.
thank you, martin, for using this site as your public soapbox. you may step down now.
Geez, you guys. I give Martin a pass on this one.
I know, right? No guns, no voting rights, no abortions for some and little American flags for other! What's to hate?
But don't worry, HCE, I'm trying to write a post that could well find us in a comment death-match...
i can't wait!
I don't know why you call it a "death match." It always ends the same way--with you skulking away in shamed defeat.
BTW-Do you have any insight on this suppossed "October Surprise" on the Vote?
I think it'll be the same as the February Surprise, the May Surprise and the June Surprise. What were those? Not sure, since we're still waiting to be surprised at all.
Meh. I'm still waiting for the Spring Suprise. Pop a nice chokky in your mouth, steel springs pierce through both cheeks.
People who smoke at gas pumps are worse than Roman Polanski.
I can tell you with absolute authority, having seen this done around age 16, that tossing one lit match into a small pool of gasoline on cement can easily cause the gasoline to catch fire. A friend spilled some in front of his house after we pushed his car there and went and filled up his gas can. He wanted to get rid of the gas and we just tossed a match and it literally went "foom" for half a second but burned low and blue-ish for what seemed like an eternity- probably 30 seconds.
Maybe he and some of his smoking buddies can head down to the Exxon at Watergate. It thoroughly annoys me whenever I pass by and see the 75 cent markup they've put on their regular unleaded.
Wow. Ok, I'm kinda surprised at all the negative comments. I enjoyed the blog/rant, it was cute. Granted it wasn't city news, and has apparantly been disproven by mythbusters, but it was humorous and short. Whatevs.
when did dcist become why.i.hate.dc?
Your post identifies you as one of the MANY "rules" people that reside in the city. I get it. I really do. DC people are type As who love the perceived security that rules bring. They love making rules, enforcing rules, etc.
Did the gas station blow up? Were you harmed in the situation? No, so mind your own business. Why get preachy on other people?
(PS - This reeks of the middle class managerial liberalism, aka "I am doing ok, so I will tell these lesser folks how to live".)
Wait; what? "Middle class managerial liberalism"? It's not like I was criticizing someone for riding their bike on a sidewalk or something. Call me crazy, but I tend to think that anything approaching a flame should be kept away from gas stations. That's not me telling people how to live their lives. It's just common sense, I think, and I would bet that most people would agree. How you live your life is clearly your business, but when it threatens to become everyone else's problem is when we impose rules to limit how it affects others.
"Did the gas station blow up? Were you harmed in the situation? No, so mind your own business. Why get preachy on other people?"
Doesn't this seem to get it backward? Do we as a society make rules only after harm is inflicted? Sometimes, sure, but plenty of laws are written to prevent the harm to begin with. That's not getting preachy; that's just public safety. If I just fired a gun into a crowd but didn't hit anyone, should be defense be, "Were you harmed in the situation? No, so mind your own business."
Oh yeah, and by "lesser people" I don't exactly know who you're talking about. If it's the gas station smoker, I'll say this much -- she was a D.C. resident driving a much nicer car than my own. Lesser? Yeah I don't think so.
I'm sorry I didn't have this in the DCist Flickr pool before today!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/outdoortype/3753531950/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/766922/no_smoking_near_the_gas_pump/
Well, maybe it was the fact that she was breaking what I consider to be one of those "Well, duh!" rules. Kind of like wearing a helmet when you ride a bike..
Oh, just STFU... Why even go there?
some people are too easy...you responded, didn't you?
Doesn't anyone remember the Hitchcock movie, THE BIRDS?!? Tee hee. I said cock.
Get back in the phone booth, Liz.
Oh, $h!t. There are no more phone booths.
As blog posts go, this one doesn't touch the whiny self-indulgence of the toddler who had to tell everyone how Murky Coffee was mean to him. Waaah!
Don't buy gas. We live in a city with public transportation and ample space for riding a bicycle
The only thing more fun than moving furniture and pets on the bus is doing it on a bicycle.
I literally just saw someone yesterday smoking at the gas station while he was filling up next to me. Wished I had a garden hose.