A Gal's Best Winter Friend

“Fill ‘er up?” The friendly gas attendant at my favourite filling station asks through frozen lips hidden behind a balaclava.  “Anything else I can do for you?” he asks.   I gratefully reply, “Maybe just some gas-line anti-freeze, please” to which I get the pleasant “You bet”, even as I notice ice crystals forming on his eye lashes.

This is a conversation which has, no doubt, taken place many times over the past couple weeks in Prince Albert,  as we experience a few of those never-ending days of deep cold.  On a bitterly cold winter day, when my gas tank hits the empty mark, I can think of no one I appreciate more than the friendly men and women who pump gas for me.  I have extended my appreciation to them other times in my column, but each cold snap reminds me how grateful I am.  As I dislike filling my own tank - even in pleasant weather - I always appreciate the employees at the filling station, winter and summer.  However, I am the most thankful when those arctic winds start blowing and the weather turns cold. It always amazes me how friendly and helpful the attendants are, even in frigid temperatures. They are great ambassadors for their employers. They always impress me with their smiles and pleasant personalities.  After all, I would let them pump my gas even if they were not nice to me!

I feel a little guilty when they find a moment to go inside to warm up while my tank is filling, and they stand by the door shivering from the cold, noses running and icicles forming from their eyebrows (but not guilty enough, obviously, to fill my own tank).  Even as they warm up, knowing they are heading back out into the cold in a few short minutes, they are still eager to carry on a friendly conversation, chit-chatting, fingers exposed through their flip-top mitts.  These are truly amazing people and we should not take them for granted.  If we do, we might have to brave the cold ourselves and pump our own gas.  I don’t know how many pairs of long johns, under-shirts, sweaters, gloves and scarves one would have to wear to be that happy working in cold weather, and I don’t want to know.  I am just grateful that someone else has figured out how to stay warm while handling a gas nozzle.

In these bitter days of cold weather, I extend a heartfelt thank you and offer up a high-five - through flip-top mitts, of course -  to gas attendants through-out Prince Albert for your much appreciated service and friendliness.  Who care about diamonds – you are a gal’s best friend!  Having friends you can count on to get you through the cold . . . it’s a good thing.