Gas pumps have become annoyingly demanding. It’s one thing after another. I just want to fill my tank. But before the gasoline will flow, the machine makes me respond to a bunch of prompts.
- Enter your Kroger ID number.
- Enter your zip code.
- Do you want to use your Kroger points?
- Please insert your card.
- Credit or debit?
- Do you want a car wash?
- Do you want a receipt at the end?
- Do you know for certain that if you died tonight, you would go to heaven?
It’s like going to Office Depot, and when you’re checking out, they ask if you want stamps. No, I don’t want stamps.
I don’t mean to be anti-social, but I’m not interested in carrying on a conversation with a gas pump. Before we know it, gas pumps will become sentient. I suspect this is how the whole Terminator thing began–that Skynet was the grandchild of a jabbery gas pump.
