Clerks taking brunt of gas price rage

Drivers vent anger at pump with misplaced blame – yelling at cashiers, refusing to pay

LOS ANGELES – Tempers are rising along with gas prices. Gas stations across the country report that drivers are taking out their gas rage against big oil by yelling at clerks and cashiers and sometimes driving off without paying.

“Everyone is suffering at the same time,” said Sam Shirazie, a clerk at a Chevron station east of downtown Los Angeles. “If I could help to reduce that pain, I would.”

No detailed statistics are kept on incidents of gas rage. But the National Association of Convenience Stores said anecdotal evidence indicates they have increased since prices began climbing in February.

Employees of Fleming Corp., which operates 14 gas stations in Kansas and Missouri, have heard everything from “just a mumble-grumble kind of thing to a cheap shot or blaming the clerk for world oil prices,” owner Ed Roitz said.

Baltimore Sun