Thursday, August 11, 2005

The New Service Station

Last night Hua Be, my driver, pulled over for gasoline. Now in all my rides back and forth to my apartment from work, I’ve never stopped for gas. Evidently they usually fill up before I get in for a ride. Well, this stop was interesting. The gas station was brand new. I had watched it being constructed for months along the road through Dahlingshan. It’s a massive, tall structure with a sweeping roof. There were at least eighteen pump locations and a large store. For whatever reason though, the store wasn’t stocked with many things. The interior was primarily for several cashier stations and what looked to be a lounge for the workers.

What really caught my attention though was that when we pulled up to a pump, an attendant was there to assist!! Yes, remember gas station attendants. Each pump had a girl to pump gas into vehicles. It seemed like old times. In this case, the girl even spoke a little English and was quite excited to speak with me. She did very well at asking where I was from and how I was on this night. Not bad. A lot better than I can do in Mandarin.

But the service pretty much just stopped with the pumping of gas. Like so many stores here, you make your deal – in this case, get your gas pumped – and then go to the cash register with your bill to pay and complete the transaction. So Hua Be had to go inside and wait and pay a cashier. The process sure doesn’t save any time. I’m still not sure if the attendant was to be sure there for service or just to assure no theft of the gasoline.

By the way, gas was 53 RMB per liter. You can convert that to something you understand.

posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 7:03 AM Comments: 0