I was walking out of the local Luv's station yesterday and just before I got to my car, which was finished fueling, I saw "a Florida man" hiding his lit cigarette while standing at the passenger side of a pickup while the driver was fueling.

I just shook my head, rolled my eyes, and drove away. But after I got home and as I thought about it longer, I started getting a little more indignant. Should I have walked over and grabbed said lit cigarette and stomp it on the ground and exchanged blows with the guy? Would anyone care?

In the end, the gas station is still there, but man, he could have blew the hole station up along with me!

What would you have done?

Tony.

I'd have minded my business too. There is literally no good whatsoever that can come to you intervening in that situation. He's wrong, he knows he's wrong, so you're not going to change his behavior whatever you do.

Anything else will be either giving him the altercation he's looking for, or starting the fire yourself when that cigarette is flying around after it gets physical.

Leave it alone. Florida Man is armed, crazy, not equipped with a filter, and has a gigantic Scotch-Irish chip on his ready-to-kick-your-ass shoulder.

And the initial gasoline explosion is really pretty localized, so if you aren't at the adjacent pump, you're pretty much ok. You've got plenty of time to get out of Dodge before the place is fully involved.

Florida Man, on the other hand, is likely to be pretty busy by then.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
Leave it alone.

Yes, far and away, the best advice.

MYOB

My policy is the less contact I have people, the better my day goes. I would have stuck with this policy in this situation.

Yeah leave it alone, get in your car and get out. You can’t fix stupid, no sense in trying. Think about all the legal issues and dollars involved in trying.

I think I would very surreptitiously snap a couple quick pics of the miscreant, in case some tragic event needs investigation later.

Every time I saw someone try to light gasoline with a cigarette, It would just put out the cherry as if you tossed it into a bucket of water. The lighter or match was always needed to get it to light.

Pumping gas while holding a cell phone to their ear is not smart either.

Leave it alone and go somewhere else. Worst case he sets himself on fire, although it's highly unlikely. He'll likely die of cancer before self-immolation. MYOB and let nature take it's course.

It’s a reasonable belief any random person in Florida is armed.

Wisest to not start no shit.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I was walking out of the local Luv's station yesterday and just before I got to my car, which was finished fueling, I saw "a Florida man" hiding his lit cigarette while standing at the passenger side of a pickup while the driver was fueling.

I just shook my head, rolled my eyes, and drove away. But after I got home and as I thought about it longer, I started getting a little more indignant. Should I have walked over and grabbed said lit cigarette and stomp it on the ground and exchanged blows with the guy? Would anyone care?

In the end, the gas station is still there, but man, he could have blew the hole station up along with me!

What would you have done?

Tony.

Left it alone. It is best not to argue with idiots. They’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I don’t remember if I was 16 or 17 when the auto shop teacher nearly gave me a coronary. I had just dropped the gas tank on Mom’s Pontiac station wagon to change the sending unit as the gas gauge had checked out. He walked up smoking and I looked at him funny. He stuck the cigarette in the filler neck and took a big drag. Apparently the flashpoint for gas vapors is higher that a glowing, cherry red, lit end of a cigarette. The things one learns…

I've never had any luck trying to save people from their stupid decisions. Unless its someone you feel obligated to help and therefore accept the risks that come with trying, the best response is to clear the blast radius (both literal and metaphorical) and let nature take its course.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
Should I have walked over and grabbed said lit cigarette and stomp it on the ground and exchanged blows with the guy? Would anyone care?

Only if you had a friend with you and said "Hold my beer and record this," first.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
What would you have done?

I'd have just shaken my head and driven away. But, I don't have a death wish. Nor am I a male Karen.

quote:

I saw "a Florida man" hiding his lit cigarette while standing at the passenger side of a pickup while the driver was fueling.

Although most imprudent, there was little real danger. It is actually quite difficult to ignite gasoline with cigarettes. The bigger potential danger was with the smoker. You never know what triggers some people. Even a simple eye roll, if he made eye contact with you, could set him off.

Well, I guess my instinct was at conflict with my principles. In the moment, my instinct prevailed and it looks like it was the best thing.

I did almost light my garage on fire once using B-12 chemtool within 5 feet of a halogen shop light. That was in the late 90's. I found myself standing in a pool of fire and having to douse my dirty shop rags with flour to put out the flame (the garage was padlocked from the outside, so there was no opening the garage in time). I've always been weary of fumes and flammables since then, but I've never tried to light gasoline fumes with a cigarette, so I had no point of reference there.

Glad to see then, that everyone else would have done exactly what I did at the moment. I did also know that I can't fix stupid but I was still awestruck at the level of stupidity. I generally MMOB, but that one was a real head shaker.

Thanks for the points of view.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
Pumping gas while holding a cell phone to their ear is not smart either.

I see no issue with this. My gas station has me pay on an app on my phone. The anti fume nozzles, fresh air and lack of any real ignition source means it’s highly unlikely to have an explosion. You’d need a gas spill, an exploding phone all at the same time. Probably need the same for the cigarette. The fumes alone from a pump aren’t likely to hit the LEL. Maybe if he held the smoke in the hand operating the pump there’s a chance.

Unless you're the Fire Marshall, leave it alone.