Real Horror Stories

Gas Station

I work midnight shift at a gas station and I have for quite awhile at various stations in different areas with varying levels of criminal activity.

I have regulars, of course. I'm a small-statured woman (as is my partner the other half of the week, and we've always been partners) so these regulars often worry about us and keep watch on creepy occurrences when they can.

I had one man who worked in the metro an hour away who would stop in every morning for his cigarettes. He never smiled or seemed friendly, and as I often do, I tried to think of what I could do that might make him smile one day.

It took many months but I finally pulled it off by having his cigarettes ready on the counter and already scanned for him to pay for as he walked in. He smiled, and then asked me

"Do you ever get scared on the night shift? You small girl, is not safe."

I said I sometimes did but we could lock the doors and hide if we had to, and that the provincial police (think state troopers, if you're American) had a station close by and came in often to get their highway vehicles washed. I had a good rapport with those police. He nodded and then told me a story about when he first moved to our country from Eastern Europe with his wife and child back in the late 80's, early 90's.

He fell asleep at work one night at the gas station he worked midnights at. When he woke up, the phone had been ringing for hours and his manager was shaking him violently asking if he was alright. He was fine, he said, what was the problem? He was sorry he fell asleep.

His manager screamed that it was fine he fell asleep, to look outside. All of their motor oil was missing and the outside of the place was a mess.

The thieves had come and swiped all the oil and left him be because he slept through the entire thing, and then moved down the road to the next station for an encore. At that station, the clerk was awake and fought back, so the thieves stabbed him to death and left him to bleed out.

When he finished telling me this, he concluded with

"If you ever feel sleepy just lock the door and do it, it might save your life"

I don't work at that station anymore but I think about that guy all the time and wonder how his grandkids are.