The real reason you are getting so angry at the petrol bowser

While one source of discomfort is impacting our wallet, the other is simply a pain in the backside.

There are few things more infuriating than waiting behind someone at a petrol bowser who has clearly finished filling up but, for reasons known only to them, decides now is the perfect time to scroll their social media.

Or a driver who pulls up and parks at the first pump, rather than driving forward as etiquette requires.

It shouldn’t make us so angry, but according to new RACQ research it does.

A statewide survey by the motoring group showed that drivers lingering in their cars after filling up is our biggest petrol-station peeve, irritating 37 per cent of us.

Another 33 per cent are driven crazy by out-of-order pumps, while 28 per cent are cranky when people shop inside but leave their car at the bowser. The same number are frustrated by drivers blocking pumps when not buying fuel, while 26 per cent can’t stand when someone stops in the last bay instead of moving forward.

Now, none of these are crimes against humanity. So why does it feel like they are?

Perhaps because, after standing there watching $100-plus disappear into our petrol tank, we’re already not in the best of moods.

After years of soaring mortgages, rents, groceries, electricity, insurance and just about everything else, we’re not just out of petrol, we’re out of patience.

Consider it the untold price of the cost-of-living crisis.

Indeed, all of these pet peeves have one thing in common: someone or something wasting our time. And time is money.

Speaking of money, RACQ data shows that the average price of regular unleaded petrol on the Gold Coast is now $2 a litre, up almost three cents from one week ago. For a 60L tank, that’s $120.

We have it good compared to Mackay at $2.10 and Rockhampton at $2.09.

As for diesel, that’s $2.531 per litre here, up six cents from last week, taking the total to $151.86 for a full 60L tank.

RACQ spokesman Tristan Vorias said prices have been steadily increasing since the return of the fuel excise amid higher oil prices, although he said retail margins remained reasonable and there was no evidence of price gouging.

But psychologically that doesn’t matter when you know you’re about to watch the numbers on the pump climb ever higher, all while you’re thinking about the mortgage, groceries, insurance, electricity and everything else that has gone up.

Then you look up and see old mate in front of you scrolling on Instagram.

The fact is financial pressure consumes bandwidth. When you’re not stressed out, five wasted minutes are just five wasted minutes.

But when you’re worried about money, work, the next bill and whether you can afford another interest-rate rise, that person wasting your five minutes becomes rage bait.

It’s not just at the petrol station, we’re seeing the same thing elsewhere.

From the abuse of supermarket and retail employees, to rude attitudes at hospitality venues, to arguments over parking spaces and road rage, the cost-of-living crisis isn’t just changing what we buy, it’s changing the way we behave while we’re buying it.

Maybe that’s the untold inflation figure.

Just as the price of food, housing, electricity and petrol has increased, so has our intolerance.

We can’t do much about the price of oil, interest rates or the cost of the weekly shop, but we can choose not to make life harder for everyone else who is struggling with them too.

So move your car from the bowser, let someone merge, be nice to the teenager serving you and perhaps forgive the person who takes an extra 30 seconds at the checkout.

Because when everything else is costing us more, kindness is one thing we can still afford to give away for free.

Extracted in full from: https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/opinion/the-real-reason-you-are-getting-so-angry-at-the-petrol-bowser/news-story/e0fd4f0462855db67648f4c4086d32e9