Chapter 16: Getting Gas

It was Thursday afternoon, and Dexter was still headed home from Nevada after retrieving his car. It was his intention to arrive at the apartment, early on Friday morning. Eric was covering the website, so Dexter didn’t have any worries, there.

Ed Daimler had asked him to find three engineers to infiltrate Daimler Plastics, to find out what was really going on in the company. Somehow, the old man had managed to find a lawyer to draw up an agreement during dinner time. It was a rather lucrative contract. At one time, Dexter would have been overjoyed to make that kind of money. Now, he was worried about being able to deliver.

Thinking about it, he decided that he would send in John Coleridge as a licensing consolidation expert. John had left the old company after all of the turmoil of Dexter’s firing. Now the poor man was unemployed, but a lot a happier. Dexter figured that a little time spent working at Daimler Plastics would give John a renewed sense of purpose.

After being on the road without break for four hours, Dexter pulled off the highway. The car was getting low on gasoline, so he figured it was a good time to fill up. He would also welcome a short walk to stretch his muscles. He spotted a typical self-service gas station located right at the exit from the highway.

He stopped upon entering the driveway into the gas station. It had six rows of pumps and a convenience store. There was a line of cars at one set of pumps, and two empty rows. He examined the empty rows thinking that they must be closed. There weren’t any red cones or signs to that effect. It was still odd that there was a long line at the one row of pumps, and almost no cars at the others.

He drove by the line of cars and spotted a sign. Reading it aloud, he said, “Independent Full Service Gas At Self Service Prices. Tips Appreciated.”

“What the hell?” Dexter asked.

He looked over at the service aisles. Two young men wearing beige pants, white shirts, and plain beige caps were running around taking care of the cars getting gas. Curious, Dexter pulled into the line of cars.

He watched, incredulous, while the two young men gave what he considered to be full service treatment to every customer. They greeted the driver, and touching the brim of their caps in salute.

One of the young men appeared to be in charge of dispensing gasoline. He would take the credit card from the driver, and swipe it through the reader. Then he would start to fill the car. While it was filling, he would return the card to the driver before going over to another car to check the pump. He kept moving all of the time.

The other young man went from car to car washing the windows. He even checked the air pressure on the tires. He had a pressurized air tank that he would use to add some air to a tire that was a little low. About half of the drivers had him check the oil.

When it was Dexter’s turn, the young man who pumped gas directed him to drive around the car at the first pump of the row. As soon as Dexter had parked, the young man came over, touched the brim of his cap.

“What can we do for you today, Sir?” he asked.

“I guess fill it with regular, and check the oil,” Dexter answered.

He handed his credit card over to the young man.

“If you’ll open the door to the gas tank, and release the hood, we’ll get right to it,” the young man said.

Dexter did as directed and watched the young man go to work. The other young man came over and checked the oil. The young man closed the hood of the car. He came around to Dexter’s window.

“Your oil is a quarter of a quart low, Sir, but you might consider getting it changed soon. Your wiper fluid levels are pretty good.”

“Thank you,” Dexter said.

The young man started washing the windshield. It was clear to Dexter that the young man had had plenty of practice washing car windows. He was rather surprised when the young man washed the rear window as well.

The young man checked the pressure in the tires. He added a little air to one of them. Dexter hadn’t realized that one of his tires had been low. He wondered if the air tank belonged to the service station or to the boys.

The first young man returned to his window and said, “Here’s your credit card and receipt, Sir.”

“Thank you,” Dexter said and held out a ten dollar bill.

The young man took the ten and then returned a five and five ones. Dexter said, “What’s this?”

“You didn’t mean to give me a ten dollar tip on a fifty dollar fill-up,” the young man said.

“Yes, I did,” Dexter said handing the money back to the young man.

“Really?” the young man said taking the money.

“Really.”

“Thank you, Sir. Have a nice day,” the young man said with a big smile.

“I will,” Dexter said.

He started the car, and drove over to a parking space in front of the gas station’s convenience store.

Inside the store, Dexter grabbed a soda and a bag of popcorn. The popcorn wasn’t freshly popped but came inside a plastic bag like potato chips. He would have preferred fresh, but this made a good snack while driving.

While standing in line, Dexter listened to the conversations taking place around him. It appeared that the two boys, and two of their friends, had come up with this idea of providing full service, for tips only. After getting permission from the owner of the gas station, they had set up a row of full service. A lot of people appreciated it, and tipped them well. They were making more money than if they had a regular part-time job.

Dexter was impressed on many levels.

First, the boys had exhibited significant creativity and motivation in coming up with, and pursing, the idea. Second, the owner of the place had recognized a good deal and let the boys do it. Third, the customers had responded in a positive manner.

This convinced Dexter that the world was ready for real service, again.

That night, after getting ready for bed, Dexter wrote an article about the independent full service aisle at the gas station. It was a long article in which he put forth the idea of service handymen for hire. He said that there were lots of areas in which a little service would go a long way. People didn’t have to be directly employed by a company. All that was required was for customers to tip them for the service.

As far as Dexter could tell, the two young men were probably earning over twenty dollars an hour. He felt that was a perfectly good wage for a young man or woman still in high school or college. He added that there were many people working full time who didn’t make that much money.

He went on to write about how many people had lined up to pay for a little service. In a way, it was amazing to him the people would be willing to spend a little more, to get just a little extra service.