Anger on the Island

LONG ISLAND, NY – Gas attendant Cemalettin Akca says skyrocketing gas prices have forced him to sell his car and walk to work, and most days he’s getting fewer tips from customers.

On top of that, when the prices soar, drivers blame him.

“Most of them start yelling at me and they’re like, ‘Where is all of this money going?’” said Akca, 19, of Melville, who works at an Exxon station in Huntington. “I tell some of them, ‘What can I do? I’m just an attendant that pumps your gas.’”

While some Long Islanders blame the government and oil companies for high gas prices at the pump, others take out their anger on filling station attendants, who are on the front lines of an issue they say is simply out of their control.

“People are getting crazy,” said Delroy Watson, 40, a Gulf attendant on Route 110 in South Huntington, where regular gas was $3.15 yesterday. “You have to be careful of what you say to them. They’re not pleasant about how they’re spending their money.”

Newsday