Violence at the Pump
"Two Pumps" by M.V. Jantzen
While it is no angry doctor with a tire-iron, we expect to see a lot more reports like this in the coming months and years. From the Seattle P-I: "Woman responds to expensive gas with her fists."
To sum up, on Sunday a Seattle area woman became violent at a First Hill gas station, because she was convinced the clerk had stiffed her a dollar of gas. (Based on AAA's latest report on Washington State fuel prices, a dollar doesn't even buy a quart of unleaded gasoline.) The woman, who was in her 20s, confronted the station attendant. After becoming verbally aggressive, the clerk tried to lead the woman out of the store. None too pleased with all of this, she took a swing at the clerk—landing a punch square on his face. The assaulted attendant called police, but they weren't able to locate the woman.
The acquiring of oil is already violent and bloody enough, without going to fisticuffs at the actual pump. So, in spite of our worries that this is just the tip of the iceberg, we're hoping this remains just one incident and not the first of many.
