The Gas Station Chronicles

 Have you ever stopped to wonder what really great stories the walls of gas stations could tell?  Or what stories the workers of gas stations could tell?  Especially in small, up north towns.  Of course the 'up north' I am referring to will only be familiar to the Wisconsin and Minnesota readers.  If you happen to come across this blog from another state, your version of 'up north' may be something completely different.  I recently read (or heard somewhere) that Up North to Minnesota is like the Hampton's of New York.  Going up north for the weekend in the summer around these parts is kind of a 'thing' and can be a big deal.
Anyway, back to my point.  This past weekend my two uncles and I packed up and headed up to Bayfield for some more sailing.  We did our usual bathroom stop at McDonald's in Superior on the way up and on the way home, we usually stop at the Holiday gas station in Superior.  As I made my journey into the Holiday bathroom, I got to thinking that I've never once set foot in the Holiday bathroom that's a mere 1/2 mile from my house yet I've been in this one, 168 miles away from home, probably close to 10 times.  Does anyone else think that's weird?  And most of the time, I don't buy anything, I just mozy in there, still half sleeping from my nap in the car and mozy on out.  I usually feel bad for not buying anything but then I realize that especially up in that neck of the woods, I am sure the workers are used to it and they couldn't probably care any less.  Do you think it's in the handbook when the employees are hired that they have to keep the bathrooms tidy because... as said in an 'up north' dialect: ..."you know, we get a lot of drive-in traffic in this area, you know with all those out of towners coming to and from Duluth and the cities, ya know."
I would love to be one of the gas station workers, just for a Sunday when the pit stops are at their peak.  Maybe even in an even smaller town at a small, family-owned gas station.  The kind where you just swing in because you missed your opportunity in Superior because you "didn't have to go then". You casually walk in, trying not to be super obvious and of course there is the lone cashier with no customers standing at the counter...silently judging you when you casually look up and around to find the bathroom sign.  You walk in, try not to touch anything but yet be as quick as possible and pray as you exit that there will be a customer to distract the lone guy at the counter, but no luck.  You still feel slightly bad for not buying at least a scratch off (which, side note: I am usually a sucker for an out-of-state scratch off...I always think I will win but never do) but then you figure that you will probably never see that kid again...well, at least not for a few more weeks when you may miss your opportunity at the Holiday in Superior.