Older folks will fondly remember the golden era of motoring - back in the 1950's when a visit to a service station involved a mass of people descending on the car. One cleaned the windscreen. One checked oil and water. One checked the tyre pressure - and one filled the tank. In many cases, such a visit resulted in a promotional gift - ranging from a set of steak knives to a boxed set of drinking glasses.
What is termed " progress " saw this sort of service degenerate into motorists pumping their own petrol in " service stations " in which that word " service " was sadly missing.
Now we are entering a new era. The price of petrol has climbed so high that it has become a prime target of thieves. Petrol resellers are encountering drivers who have stolen number plates disguising the true plates on their vehicle. They fill up with fuel - do " a runner " - and discard the bogus plates around the next corner.
Many service stations require cash or a credit card to be lodged at the pay desk before the pumps are activated at night - and now that custom is being extended to 24/7 operation.
Unfortunately petrol resellers have also become a prime target of hold-up thieves. They suffer the twin disability of being lightly manned - often by a single attendant - and because of the price of petrol - quickly amass a considerable sum of money in the till.
We are accustomed to getting our money from an ATM these days. Surely the day must fast be approaching when petrol stations will be equipped with with money acceptance slots - similar to the ones on poker machines.
When we require petrol we put a banknote in the slot and the machine dispenses that value in petrol. There is no attendant to hold-up - and the machine may or may not offer change.
It sounds futuristic - but then back in the 1950's - who would have thought it possible that the source of cash for most people would be a machine set in the wall of a bank - and open twenty-four hours ?
No comments:
Post a Comment