No one asks strangers at gas stations for directions anymore. amirite?

I still remember, in the ‘80s, getting lost in rural Massachusetts one night. I parked at a gas station and walked toward the building, carrying a road map. These two old-timers were sitting just outside the door, and one of them said "It's okay, sonny, we don't need your map." They told me how to get to the highway. And that's how the world was before GPS.

by MixPlane6401 1 week ago

Similar happened to me a few years ago. Except the boomer had to first make a jab about "my generation" not knowing how to get by without gps. They still helped me in the end, but come on. Just help without making me feel bad…

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I remember when my parents got a suction cup windshield Garmin and even places they had been to before they always deferred to it even when they may have known better, and when it lost signal they wouldn't remember how to get to places they had driven many times before

by Right_Divide 1 week ago

It's probably for the best. Sometimes they were talking out of their ass and you'd end up at another gas station, still asking for directions.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I did this once when I was working at McDonald's. We had a lake, that you could see from any of the roads that brought you to the McDonald's. I had been asked about 10 times how to get to the lake. "Turn right from our exit and keep going. You'll drive right into it." The last person I gave very complex directions out of town.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This made me think of the Xavier Renegade Angel scene when he keeps asking everyone "Please tell me how to get to the lake" lmao Obligatory link to the scene

by Bulky_Yak_6627 1 week ago

They don't seem to mind asking them for money, though

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You can download Google maps. You can't download money

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Bitcoin enters the chat.

by Tall-Spring 1 week ago

"FREE" Bitcoin enters that chat

by Anonymous 1 week ago

The last time I pulled into a Wawa for directions was when there was road construction and my Garmin wouldn't go around it. I was trying to get to a flea market that opened at 4:00am, so I was at a Wawa at 3:30am. I left them a good ranking.

by bessie49 1 week ago

Just jumping in to let you know I appreciate you casually saying wawa. I grew up near wawas. I love it buddy

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I live in Florida. They are not quite as common as 7/11, but still it feels like second place. That could just be because I am more likely to take notice of a Wawa than I am a Chevron station. The Wawa has a easily recognizable brand beyond just the gasoline.

by Separate_Bee_763 1 week ago

I wish NC had more Wawas, and I can't remember the last time I saw a Chevron. But I suppose we have Sheetz.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Cuz Strangers at gas stations now are usually tweakers

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Can't trust they won't give bad directions just to meth with you.

by Otherwise-Page 1 week ago

Because they're all townies. "Hey, how do I get back on the highway eastbound?" Ohhh, ye can't get there from here. You'll have ta head back ta Littleton. 'Bout eight miles as the crow flies. (Uses GPS, is eastbound on the highway in 22 seconds)

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Should have bought the squirrels.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

When in an unfamiliar state i will ask the most direct to get somewhere. Google gives you the fastest, which is often lots of side streets/country roads. I want main throrough fares with civilization nearby and services

by Anonymous 1 week ago

If he's cute, I'll figure out SOMETHING to ask about...

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I run a gas station, we're still asked for directions almost daily.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yeah they do. I work at a gas station. I've seen it. I've spent time actually arguing the directions I gave them.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I do.. I ask them lots of things..

by Anonymous 1 week ago

My friend's father died recently, he never had a cell phone or computer of any kind. I mean it seems like it would have been pretty weird to go the last 25 years with no electronics. He probably asked directions now and again

by carmella68 1 week ago

I sure hope he realized it when he sobered up. That's a funny story to tell. Like the time I was walking on a sidewalk and met a blind man with a cane. He was tapping his cane back and forth. I was timing my steps to meet him as he tapped away from me. But the guy doubled tapped on the same side just as I got to him. His cane went between my feet and my next step caused his cane to go flying out of his hand. No one believes my story. But it's true. I apologized profusely and he was kind about it.

by Noreneschamberg 1 week ago

Depending on the attendant's age, if you ask them for directions they may need to pull out their phone in order to answer you.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I may be young but the 2000s weren't that long ago. I remember having to go into random buildings to get printed directions from kind strangers when my mom would get lost.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Charlton Heston out of a job now.

by Mediocre_Working 1 week ago

While not a gas station, ive been asked "where is (road)" or "how do i get to (place) from here?" by randos on the street. Not something im on a daily basis, but maybe once every few months?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I asked for directions at a gas station about 5 years ago and as a mailman people ask me for directions all the time.

by brockpacocha 1 week ago

As a trucker I ask people for directions through cities all the time but anything far I'll just GPS it. It's easier to get directions from people because people will have all the specifics of a route while a GPS just points you in a direction and says go...

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Unless you're on The Amazing Race.

by emmitt13 1 week ago

I lost my phone in the middle of rural Quebec a while ago while trying to get back home in Ontario. That was a bit of a struggle since I don't speak French and suddenly it seemed like nobody else spoke English. Luckily, eventually I found someone with an Ontario plate that was going the same direction I needed to go so I followed them.

by WishboneCommercial23 1 week ago

There've been a couple folks that come through not knowing how to get somewhere. It's always some 104 year old dude who couldn't look at technology made in the last 60 years without having an aneurism. One time I had a guy who was already on the navigation app asking how to get from here to the point on his phone. Blew his mind when I showed him there's a button specifically for that.

by juwanondricka 1 week ago

Worked at the local service station in the 80s. The owner was the funniest, most pleasant saint of a man. When people would come in and ask "Where is..." His response was always, "You can't get there from here, but if you go back the way you came and..." then he would tell them the correct directions. He would giggle every time about that.

by Summer36 1 week ago

Saw someone asking for directions at a gas station on Tuesday

by cromaguera 1 week ago

Currently in Hong Kong, the streets are complicated enough that Google Maps don't always help. Not to mention the maps aren't always updated.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Huh. Now that you mention it, it's been a few weeks since I even saw anyone using a phone booth! /s

by rathezequiel 1 week ago

This literally just happened to me today.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Murderers exist. Rapists exist. Worse exist. As a 23 year old girl I would never talk to a stranger especially at a gas station of all places. If my phone is dead I'll go in and buy a charger before asking someone. If I do have to ask, I'll either ask the store employee or a mom or someone my age. Never older and never ever a guy.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You would typically ask the guy behind the counter though, you'd be talking to him to buy something anyway. Gas station attendants expected to be asked for directions, pre smartphone era.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

People used to ask me for directions all the time in 1998. Sometimes I wonder what happened to them.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

well when you have the entirety of human knowledge on a device that can fit in your pocket

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Give a teen a Thomas guide and watch them die inside.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Let's put that myth to the test

by Anonymous 1 week ago

"this thing doesn't happen to me so i assume it doesn't happen to anyone. Because i assume my experience is that of everyone else. Now I'm going to be patronizing to people younger than me like they don't understand the world." FIFY I get asked directions pretty frequently, actually. Maybe you just look like an unapproachable weirdo. You certainly sound like one.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Deep breaths... It's going to be okay.

by NegotiationOk4172 1 week ago

Damn it was not that serious

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Have a Snickers. You're not you when you're hungry.

by Lilianekerluke 1 week ago

I know you weren't going for "silly", yet here we are

by Anonymous 1 week ago

A guy literally asked me in the street this morning where was the closest pharmacy.

by Zella81 1 week ago