Gen Zer vs old gas pump has everyone laugh-screaming directions.
Listen: adulting is hard, especially when you were born into a world that already had smartphones and Google while relics of the past still hang around like analog boobytraps. It is not your fault if you don't know who Dewey is or why he has a decimal system; you simply reserve the book ahead of time online or listen to the audiobook like a person born in the 2st Century.
But those analog traps left by those of us who lived through the late 1900s are around every corner, waiting for an unsuspecting Gen Zer to encounter them. Antonia Lopez, a 25-year-old Army soldier, found herself staring down one of these old school relics while getting gas recently. The soldier should've suspected she was about to be transported to the 1900s when the pump didn't have Apple Pay.
Instead of using a card at the pump, she had to walk into the gas station and interact with other humans to prepay. Many of us, no matter the generation, would risk running out of gas trying to get to the nearest gas station that allowed pay at the pump just to avoid talking to the cashier. Clearly, Lopez was already doing hard things, so a vintage gas pump should've been easy.
Empty gas station under a clear sky.Photo credit: Canva
It wasn't. She was struggling to figure out how to get the gas to come out of the nozzle, so she did what any Gen Zer would do and whipped out her phone to document it. Lopez uploaded the video to her socials, where it has started going viral. When the video starts, Lopez is dressed in her Army uniform, staring at the gas pump in a puzzled way.
"Please tell me I'm not stupid. I'm trying to pump gas, but the gas..." she trails off as she turns the phone around to show the gas pump. "Like this is not a button. Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm trying to...hello?" She says as she's aggressively pushing the yellow sticker on the gas pump that identifies the unleaded gas with a percentage of ethanol added.
Fueling up for the day's journey ahead.Photo credit: Canva
Obviously, she was not having luck trying to use the sticker like a touch screen. Lopez then moves on to attempt to press where the pump indicates up is for on and down is for off. After having no luck pushing everything that could be a button, she reads the directions out loud several times while looking over the gas pump. Eventually, she gives up and goes to ask the attendant, who also sounds young.
The attendant confirms that she has already prepaid for $25 before adding, "These things were built like when Reagan was in office." He then demonstrates flipping the lever that the gas nozzle rests on up and down. According to the gas attendant, he sees people struggle with the pump all the time.
The amusing generational fight with the Reagan Era gas pump had people laughing and yelling at their phones, trying to send the soldier instructions. One person laughs, "I was SCREAMING, flip the handle up!!!!! Too funny."
Another writes, "I honestly felt for her; nobody likes being in a situation like that. But this did really make me smile. Him saying it was made when Reagan was in office made me snort. What really makes me feel old is that I remember when those were new, back when the numbers physically flipped over as you pumped; all analog, nothing digital."
Hiding a smile behind her hand.Photo credit: Canva
Someone else admits that these pumps are no longer common: "I was literally yelling to flip the holder. I haven’t seen pumps like that in a long time."
Overall, most people were very compassionate, even though they found it amusing. One person reminded her that people learn new things all the time, writing, "You learned something new, that’s always a good thing. Congrats. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. There are people who think they were born knowing everything, forgetting they all had to learn it the first time."
Everyone has to learn something new at some point. The older generations poking fun have likely had to ask someone younger to teach them a technology they don't understand. Learning something new on your own or from others is something to be celebrated, and thanks to Lopez sharing her experience online, she just taught others how to work the same kind of gas pump. The more you know!