Intermission is one of the most critical times at an independent wrestling show. At a regular show, the wrestlers will come out, sign autographs, take pictures with people and sell merchandise. Depending on the size of the show and promotion, there will likely be at least a singular merchandise table and at larger shows, a variety of merchandise tables, as outside vendors set up as well. This being a larger show, there were a variety of merchandise tables.
I made my first stop at the Evolve/DGUSA table. I was interested in some of their DVDs, since the Super Smash Brothers did some work for them in 2012. Additionally, earlier in the night during my first walkthrough Gabe Sapolsky, the booker for the promotion, who was there selling his wares, let me know he was willing to cut a deal. I was a fan of Gabe's work in Ring of Honor and was pretty excited about Dragon Gate USA, but have never gotten too deep into their product. I went to Evolve 5, because it was the last chance to see Bryan Danielson on the East Coast and Evolve 18, because the Super Smash Brothers were wrestling El Generico and Samuray Del Sol and enjoyed both shows. I also bought tickets to their second show in Philadelphia, but missed most of the show, as I was stuck in a traffic jam for six hours, which was a bit of a bummer since we had pricey first row seats, which were a gift for the best man at my wedding.
I found three DVDs which I wanted with the Super Smash Brothers on them and tendered a fifty dollar bill for forty dollars worth of wrestling DVDs. Gabe then offered me two more DVDs from the older stock for $5 a piece. Not having a good sense of what I wanted, I let Gabe pick two shows he thought would be best to entice me into becoming a Dragon Gate USA fan. So, I am now the proud owner of Enter the Dragon 2011 and Freedom Fight 2011. And I get to support a product I probably enjoy, but seldom get to attend, as the shows in the area are usually in New York City and in places which require a car, which is usually two bridges too far for me to want to attend.
I then moved over to the wrestlers' tables. I have a fairly large collection of wrestling shirts, almost all of which were purchased directly from a wrestler at a show. I even own a Kevin Steen shirt which is one size too large, because that was what he brought to Rahway right after Superstorm Sandy and I wanted him to know that I appreciated his work. I think there is no better way to tell talent to come back then to support them directly like this. I buy DVDs, because that is the entertainment for me, but I buy shirts from wrestlers like Kevin Steen, Chris Hero, Chuck Taylor and the Super Smash Brothers, because I want them to come back to the Northeast and not take jobs as accountants.
As Candice Larae and Joey Ryan were making a rare East Coast appearance and because Drake Younger was nowhere to be found during intermission, I knew I would break one of my cardinal rules, no white shirts. But Candice and Joey put out a really great shirt and since I've been a Joey Ryan since the first match I saw him in over six years ago, which was the First and Last Ever PWG Tuxedo Street Fight against Top Gun Talwar, I wanted to show my appreciation for the fine work that Joey and Candice are putting on across the country. So, I gave Joey Ryan $20, he gave me a shirt and the sense that I was supporting independent wrestling.
With intermission completed and purchases safely moved to my car and my car safely moved to right in front of the Flyers Skate Zone, I was able to enjoy the second half of the show. After intermission, there was a four way tag match, which featured a lot of high spots and wrestlers I wasn't familiar with, followed by a tag team championship match, which featured wrestlers I was familiar with and aside from John Silver, who put on an excellent hard hitting performance, there was nothing of note to me.
But now, we hit the home stretch. The four-way number one contenders match, with Drake Younger, AR Fox, Chris Dickinson and Black Jeez was excellent and certainly the match of the night. Since El Generico returned to his orphanage in Mexico, no one has been better at being a babyface than Drake Younger. He is just so believable and full of excitement, you just want to scream DRAKE at the top of your lungs and watch him win. And no one sells better than AR Fox, just watching him take a cutter and backflipping through is an amazing work of art. Chris Dickinson, whom I'd heard good things about also put on a great match. We won't talk about my thoughts on Black Jeez, but at least he didn't take anything away from the match. There were just the right amount of big spots and everyone got in good work, before AR Fox beat Drake Younger, which made a lot of sense considering AR Fox is an East Coast wrestler and Drake Younger is a West Coast wrestler.
Finally, we reached the initial main event, which pitted CZW Champion Drew Gulak versus former TNA star and independent glory boy AJ Styles. To be honest, I never gave AJ Styles wrestling much thought before Saturday night and certainly did not buy a ticket to see him live. The week prior, I saw Drew Gulak wrestle Colt Cabana and thought Drew was a good hand, but nothing worth writing about.
Most reviews of the match were very positive, which led me to believe two things. One, no one wants to say anything bad about AJ Styles during his homecoming tour. Two, everyone else was watching a very different match than I was. I suspect it was the former.
The match started slow, which can be fine, but the main event at a CZW show probably should incorporate more than headlocks in the first five minutes. I think the pacing of the match might have worked if we were in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1975, but the match suffered even beyond that. Both wrestlers employ something of an old-time Southern style, which I usually enjoy, but not after a big, hard-hitting match full of highspots. Also, if you do a Southern-style match, you need to employ more story telling and not just moving from move to move at a slower pace. After a quick tour of the arena, which is always overrated, a series of back and forth exchanges and one of the least authentic valet/manager hitting the famous wrestler with the belt, who could neither lose clean nor win the title, the match was thankfully over. Seriously, nothing I saw on Saturday night would ever convince me I wanted to pay to see AJ Styles wrestle, as the match was slow and he really lacked the physical charisma to convince me that he was telling a good story.
Finally, it was Deathmatch time, since after the bad taste of the original main event, people wanted blood. Danny Havoc comes out to a ring filled with weapons, like a chair, a chair wrapped in barbed wire, a garbage can, a crutch, all tools we became familiar with watching ECW back in the 1990s. He cuts a promo designed to introduce his opponent and the entire time I was just standing there in my heart, screaming, "Anyone but Drake." Sadly, as much as I like Drake Younger, he came out to the ring to have what could thankfully be considered a hardcore match.
I was actually saddened when Drake came to the ring. Deathmatches are the wrestling equivalent of pornography. Limited story telling, lots of action and plenty of things you don't need to see. To be honest, they really are not my thing, as I never want to see someone take a stapler to another man and use it on him to inflict pain. Or rip open another person's skin and flesh with barbed wire. It doesn't appeal to me. A hardcore match, which is not nearly as barbaric, can work in the right environment, but a deathmatch, which CZW is famous for, and which Drake Younger swore off in the last year or so, was exactly what I didn't want to see.
Fortunately, two things happened. One, the actual violence was toned down considerably. Even the barbed wire chair wasn't wielded, but instead Danny Havoc went head first into it once and really didn't bleed. The unprotected shots to the head were a bit much, but again, it was Drake delivering and Danny taking them, whether it be by chair or garbage can lid. Drake took some bumps, which were hard to watch in person and finally lost the match, but it was still enjoyable and I really appreciated it didn't go too far, since I think babyface Drake Younger is one of the best wrestlers around today, while King of the Deathmatch Drake Younger does not hold the same appeal.
In all, it was a good show and I would recommend the DVD or iPPV to anyone who likes wrestling. The show was also good enough for me to ensure I check the next CZW card to see if it is worth going to, though not quite strong enough to make CZW a must to my wrestling rotation. That being said, I was quite happy to be part of their 15th anniversary show, as it shows an ability and dedication to survive in a difficult business.
Showing posts with label CZW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CZW. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
CZW 15th Anniversary: A Review (Part 1)
Sadly, dear reader, I happen to be a huge wrestling fan (not literally, as I am of more an average size), but I enjoy the artistic endeavor that is professional wrestling. While I freely admit I watch the WWE product, my heart has belonged to independent wrestling since 2007, when I went to my first Ring of Honor show.
On Saturday, I convinced myself to go to a CZW show for the second time in my life. I went to an event called Cage of Death in 2012, since Cage of Death is an experience that each independent wrestling fan should experience at least once in their lives, though I would strongly recommend general admission, rather than front row seating, because I am not a big fan of picking light tubes out of my hair before driving home.
To start, fifteen years for an independent wrestling organization is an impressive streak and something to be commended. CZW is generally not my cup of tea, but they have definitely moved their product away from some of the worst aspects of death match wrestling and towards a more hardcore, but tasteful product aside from a few shows designed to cater to that crowd. However, I saw that Joey Ryan and Candice LaRae, who are two of my favorite wrestlers from the West Coast were going to have matches at the show, along with the Golden Boy Drake Younger, who is a former CZW legend and nowadays the best babyface on the independent scene. Once I saw the three of them were going to be at an anniversary show, I eagerly bought my ticket, unlike the real draw, which was a match by AJ Styles, which I will discuss below, but in no way encouraged me to attend.
So, I arrive early and fight the parking situation, which is really the only drawback of going to a big CZW show, before yielding and parking across the way. I finally find the line, which contained no less than 1,000 and probably closer to 1,200 people, which is a really impressive crowd for an independent wrestling show. However, the line snakes around a hockey rink, with a game between the junior Flyers and junior Devils, which the junior Devils won 6 to 4. I watched the game, not because of my interest in junior hockey, but in my interest in self-preservation, as I would prefer not to be brained by a stray puck flying through the netting. Most of the fans for the show watched as well, making it quite likely the most well-attended junior hockey game in American history. There were a few calls for fights, as you would expect from wrestling fans watching junior hockey waiting for violence, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Finally, after about 45 minutes of waiting, the line starts to move. A few gentlemen who brought their own title belts from their homes, which does not make them champions, but spectators with an overinflated ego. Though I do have a softspot for the fifty year old thinly built African American fellow who dresses like Hulk Hogan, down to the long blond hair in a wig, with his own title belt. The line moves slow and as the game finished, free skate begins. The guys behind me were very interested in free skate, because they really enjoyed watching people, mostly children under the age of 14 eat the ice. It happened a few times, but not nearly as many as you would expect from a group of skaters wondering why 1,000, mostly 20 to 40 year old men, were watching them skate, but that is the life of an independent wrestling fan.
Finally, I manage to get inside just before the opening match and move to the Highspots merchandise table. For reasons I won't get into, I had not pre-ordered All Star Weekend 10 from Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but was aware the DVDs were released on Friday by Highspots. I prefer to purchase them directly from PWG, since they get the full effect of the sale, as buying wrestling DVDs from an independent promotion is like buying local. It takes a lot to run a show and buying direct from the company helps their bottom line and keeps the viable. But, I'm a selfish pig who wanted to see the best wrestling around and bought them right away.
After finishing a quick walkthrough, the matches start. The first few matches were fine, mostly CZW regulars whom I was generally acquainted. There was a segment with Tommy Dreamer, who is best known for his work with the seminal wrestling organization ECW in the 1990s, which had a tremendous impact on wrestling from a Bingo Hall in South Philadelphia, which I've been fortunate enough to visit during its heyday. He put over a special main event, which is code for "You won't like AJ Styles versus Drew Gulak and the company needs to make good to make sure people come back." Also, there was a great Charlie Brown chant for the owner, based on his looking like Charlie Brown, wearing his brown, big boy suit that Tommy got going.
And that's part of the performance art. The fans aren't just there to enjoy the show, but you also participate in the theatre with your cheers, your boos and your insane chants, which at times are known to go too far. But that's wrestling for you.
Finally, the first match I wanted to see and the match I was most excited for that night started, Joey Ryan versus Greg Excellent. Joey Ryan's gimmick is that of a sleazy Californian with a great tan and hair, a fine mustache and chest hair. His gimmick resonates in his wrestling, which can either be very serious and technical or playful and comedic, depending on the opponent. As he was facing, Greg Excellent, a heavy set fellow in a single with his name written like the Mountain Dew logo, poured a box of cereal on himself and entered the ring, comedy was in the cards.
The match was everything I hoped it would be. Joey Ryan started the match with a lollipop in his mouth. The lollipop was passed back and forth during a series of headlocks, which while totally unhygenic, was also hysterical. Then during the first break in action, Joey Ryan proceeded to take the lollipop, rub it all over his body, shove it down his pants, then into Greg Excellent's mouth. Writing the last sentence, I'm not sure I should have enjoyed this at all, but the action was just the right amount of juvenile to be hysterical without feeling obscene. Of course, to take the action further, Greg enjoyed the lollipop, shoved it down his own singlet, may or may not have intimated he was touching himself while doing so, then shoved it into Joey's mouth, since you always need the good guy to come out on top. The match continued at a regular pace after this point, with Joey using his patented Boobplex, usually reserved for wrestling women, on the ample Greg Excellent to great effect and pop from the crowd, before local hero Greg Excellent went over him for the victory in a highly entertaining match.
There was a quick match for the CZW Wired title that I have nothing of value to talk about, which was followed by Candice Larae wrestling Kimber Lee. Candice is a staple for PWG and usually wrestles men in PWG, generally as part of a tag team. Normally, I would have misgivings about a man wrestling a woman, but PWG has the right atmosphere and booking to take advantage of the comedic potential of a man wrestling a woman, while still making Candice feel like a credible contender. Unlike Joey Ryan, who I'd seen wrestle a few times for Ring of Honor live on the East Coast or Drake Younger, who I saw at my one Cage of Death appearance, which was a real draw for me to go to that show in all honesty, I had never seen Candice wrestle live, usually, because I don't watch women's wrestling.
The bias stems from watching wrestling for 30 years and growing up, women generally didn't wrestle that often and when they did, the workrate was pretty abysmal for most of them and to this date, remains a big problem in women's wrestling in the WWE, which I think Sara Del Rey as a new trainer is working hard to fix. I had seen Kimber Lee wrestle a few times for a local promotion and thought she was a good worker and expected a good match. To be honest, it was almost certainly the best women's wrestling match I've seen live not involving Awesome Kong and Sara Del Rey. The action was crisp and lively, the spots were strong and I did see Candice perform a modified version of the Ballplex, which is exactly the suplex you think it is on Kimber Lee two times in a row, which I would lovingly call the Boxplex. Of course, by doing so, any feminist credibility I could ever have went rolling out the window, but really, no other word you could create in wrestling language would give justice to the move dished out at this point.
At this point, we reached intermission, which is where I will leave this story until tomorrow, where we can discuss respecting the business, why I buy merchandise, Drake Younger and the awful AJ Styles/Drew Gulak match, which was not nearly as panned by others as I will pan it tomorrow.
On Saturday, I convinced myself to go to a CZW show for the second time in my life. I went to an event called Cage of Death in 2012, since Cage of Death is an experience that each independent wrestling fan should experience at least once in their lives, though I would strongly recommend general admission, rather than front row seating, because I am not a big fan of picking light tubes out of my hair before driving home.
To start, fifteen years for an independent wrestling organization is an impressive streak and something to be commended. CZW is generally not my cup of tea, but they have definitely moved their product away from some of the worst aspects of death match wrestling and towards a more hardcore, but tasteful product aside from a few shows designed to cater to that crowd. However, I saw that Joey Ryan and Candice LaRae, who are two of my favorite wrestlers from the West Coast were going to have matches at the show, along with the Golden Boy Drake Younger, who is a former CZW legend and nowadays the best babyface on the independent scene. Once I saw the three of them were going to be at an anniversary show, I eagerly bought my ticket, unlike the real draw, which was a match by AJ Styles, which I will discuss below, but in no way encouraged me to attend.
So, I arrive early and fight the parking situation, which is really the only drawback of going to a big CZW show, before yielding and parking across the way. I finally find the line, which contained no less than 1,000 and probably closer to 1,200 people, which is a really impressive crowd for an independent wrestling show. However, the line snakes around a hockey rink, with a game between the junior Flyers and junior Devils, which the junior Devils won 6 to 4. I watched the game, not because of my interest in junior hockey, but in my interest in self-preservation, as I would prefer not to be brained by a stray puck flying through the netting. Most of the fans for the show watched as well, making it quite likely the most well-attended junior hockey game in American history. There were a few calls for fights, as you would expect from wrestling fans watching junior hockey waiting for violence, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Finally, after about 45 minutes of waiting, the line starts to move. A few gentlemen who brought their own title belts from their homes, which does not make them champions, but spectators with an overinflated ego. Though I do have a softspot for the fifty year old thinly built African American fellow who dresses like Hulk Hogan, down to the long blond hair in a wig, with his own title belt. The line moves slow and as the game finished, free skate begins. The guys behind me were very interested in free skate, because they really enjoyed watching people, mostly children under the age of 14 eat the ice. It happened a few times, but not nearly as many as you would expect from a group of skaters wondering why 1,000, mostly 20 to 40 year old men, were watching them skate, but that is the life of an independent wrestling fan.
Finally, I manage to get inside just before the opening match and move to the Highspots merchandise table. For reasons I won't get into, I had not pre-ordered All Star Weekend 10 from Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but was aware the DVDs were released on Friday by Highspots. I prefer to purchase them directly from PWG, since they get the full effect of the sale, as buying wrestling DVDs from an independent promotion is like buying local. It takes a lot to run a show and buying direct from the company helps their bottom line and keeps the viable. But, I'm a selfish pig who wanted to see the best wrestling around and bought them right away.
After finishing a quick walkthrough, the matches start. The first few matches were fine, mostly CZW regulars whom I was generally acquainted. There was a segment with Tommy Dreamer, who is best known for his work with the seminal wrestling organization ECW in the 1990s, which had a tremendous impact on wrestling from a Bingo Hall in South Philadelphia, which I've been fortunate enough to visit during its heyday. He put over a special main event, which is code for "You won't like AJ Styles versus Drew Gulak and the company needs to make good to make sure people come back." Also, there was a great Charlie Brown chant for the owner, based on his looking like Charlie Brown, wearing his brown, big boy suit that Tommy got going.
And that's part of the performance art. The fans aren't just there to enjoy the show, but you also participate in the theatre with your cheers, your boos and your insane chants, which at times are known to go too far. But that's wrestling for you.
Finally, the first match I wanted to see and the match I was most excited for that night started, Joey Ryan versus Greg Excellent. Joey Ryan's gimmick is that of a sleazy Californian with a great tan and hair, a fine mustache and chest hair. His gimmick resonates in his wrestling, which can either be very serious and technical or playful and comedic, depending on the opponent. As he was facing, Greg Excellent, a heavy set fellow in a single with his name written like the Mountain Dew logo, poured a box of cereal on himself and entered the ring, comedy was in the cards.
The match was everything I hoped it would be. Joey Ryan started the match with a lollipop in his mouth. The lollipop was passed back and forth during a series of headlocks, which while totally unhygenic, was also hysterical. Then during the first break in action, Joey Ryan proceeded to take the lollipop, rub it all over his body, shove it down his pants, then into Greg Excellent's mouth. Writing the last sentence, I'm not sure I should have enjoyed this at all, but the action was just the right amount of juvenile to be hysterical without feeling obscene. Of course, to take the action further, Greg enjoyed the lollipop, shoved it down his own singlet, may or may not have intimated he was touching himself while doing so, then shoved it into Joey's mouth, since you always need the good guy to come out on top. The match continued at a regular pace after this point, with Joey using his patented Boobplex, usually reserved for wrestling women, on the ample Greg Excellent to great effect and pop from the crowd, before local hero Greg Excellent went over him for the victory in a highly entertaining match.
There was a quick match for the CZW Wired title that I have nothing of value to talk about, which was followed by Candice Larae wrestling Kimber Lee. Candice is a staple for PWG and usually wrestles men in PWG, generally as part of a tag team. Normally, I would have misgivings about a man wrestling a woman, but PWG has the right atmosphere and booking to take advantage of the comedic potential of a man wrestling a woman, while still making Candice feel like a credible contender. Unlike Joey Ryan, who I'd seen wrestle a few times for Ring of Honor live on the East Coast or Drake Younger, who I saw at my one Cage of Death appearance, which was a real draw for me to go to that show in all honesty, I had never seen Candice wrestle live, usually, because I don't watch women's wrestling.
The bias stems from watching wrestling for 30 years and growing up, women generally didn't wrestle that often and when they did, the workrate was pretty abysmal for most of them and to this date, remains a big problem in women's wrestling in the WWE, which I think Sara Del Rey as a new trainer is working hard to fix. I had seen Kimber Lee wrestle a few times for a local promotion and thought she was a good worker and expected a good match. To be honest, it was almost certainly the best women's wrestling match I've seen live not involving Awesome Kong and Sara Del Rey. The action was crisp and lively, the spots were strong and I did see Candice perform a modified version of the Ballplex, which is exactly the suplex you think it is on Kimber Lee two times in a row, which I would lovingly call the Boxplex. Of course, by doing so, any feminist credibility I could ever have went rolling out the window, but really, no other word you could create in wrestling language would give justice to the move dished out at this point.
At this point, we reached intermission, which is where I will leave this story until tomorrow, where we can discuss respecting the business, why I buy merchandise, Drake Younger and the awful AJ Styles/Drew Gulak match, which was not nearly as panned by others as I will pan it tomorrow.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Full Service
In two states of the union, we have the great joy of only having full-service gas stations. Most full-service gas stations are basically the same, you pull up, ask for your order, get your gas pumped, pay and drive away without pouring gasoline on your shoes or pants.
Yesterday, I was on my way to the CZW 15th Anniversary Show in South Jersey. I left myself some additional time to make sure I arrived early after time I went to one of their shows leaving me standing in the cold for an hour. Unfortunately, I failed to get gas for my car on Friday, which meant that I would need to get gas on the way. This also meant visiting a new gas station.
For the first fifteen or so miles of my trip, all of the gas stations were on the wrong, and by wrong, I mean opposite side of the road. Finally, I hit the Windsors, which one of the fancier areas of New Jersey. I drive past a few gas stations, lamenting the price was 15 cents higher per gallon in this part of the state. Eventually, I see a gas station and yield despite the inflated prices.
The set up of the station was odd, as there were two groups of gas islands, but people were only using the one furthest from the highway. So, I pull up, turn off my car, roll down my window and pop the lock on the gas tank. The fellow, since to use the word gentleman would be both misleading and debase the word, ambles over and asks what I want. I want him to fill my tank with regular gasoline.
And nothing really happens, because a woman starts yelling at the guy pumping gas and he goes over to her. I won't say walk, but more of a modified Humpty Dances his way over there. I think at some point in time the attendant possibly suffered a stroke, which would explain the walk, but as we will learn, he is quite the operator and anything was possible at this bizarro gas station.
Two minutes pass before this fellow returns. Having forgotten my order, he asks again, which was to be expected. As soon as he starts pumping my gas, he goes off on a tirade about the other customer, wanting a specific amount of gas, rather than filling her tank, as if she was trying to order lobster instead of receive gas. He then asks if I am local and not really thinking, I indicate that I'm not, as I thought he was just making conversation. He even puts his hand in my open window to express his regret, which I quickly shake to get him out of my car.
$30.70 worth of gas was pumped into the tank. If you are paying cash at a full service station, the custom is for the attendant to pump to the nearest dollar. I can think of one time in the last ten years where the attendant didn't do so and he was pumping to the nearest quarter. This hustler just said, $31.00 without doing the rest of the fill up, which if I am not mistaken is illegal, since he is charging me for a product and not providing it. To me, it was thirty cents, so I was willing to let it go. But I started thinking. Let's say he does this to thirty customers a day, that's nine dollars he is skimming off the top. That's $45 per week and $180 per month. It's like he is getting his cable bill or more than a few handles of alcohol or maybe, just maybe some erotic daguerreotypes for his pleasure. I still don't like being cheated, but such is the way of the world.
So, I hand our hustling friend a fifty dollar bill, since my bank's ATM practices this new form of hatred where it dispenses fifties instead of twenties. While I understand inflation and limited spaces in ATMs, fifty dollar bills are still an oddity in the currency world. No one ever talks about spending a Grant for a reason. Expecting nineteen dollars in change, since I've given our hustler friend fifty dollars, he hands me two five dollar bills and four singles. Now, I might let the thirty cents go by with no more than a friendly whatever, but five dollars is definitely in the complaint zone. I inform our friend that he has only given me fourteen dollars and he takes back a five dollar bill and hands me a ten from a separate stack of money he had hidden away. This leads me to believe this is a pretty standard trick for our hustler with non-regular customers.
So, with most of my change and a full tank of gas, I drive on to the show, swearing to never purchase gasoline along Route 130 in the Windsors again.
Yesterday, I was on my way to the CZW 15th Anniversary Show in South Jersey. I left myself some additional time to make sure I arrived early after time I went to one of their shows leaving me standing in the cold for an hour. Unfortunately, I failed to get gas for my car on Friday, which meant that I would need to get gas on the way. This also meant visiting a new gas station.
For the first fifteen or so miles of my trip, all of the gas stations were on the wrong, and by wrong, I mean opposite side of the road. Finally, I hit the Windsors, which one of the fancier areas of New Jersey. I drive past a few gas stations, lamenting the price was 15 cents higher per gallon in this part of the state. Eventually, I see a gas station and yield despite the inflated prices.
The set up of the station was odd, as there were two groups of gas islands, but people were only using the one furthest from the highway. So, I pull up, turn off my car, roll down my window and pop the lock on the gas tank. The fellow, since to use the word gentleman would be both misleading and debase the word, ambles over and asks what I want. I want him to fill my tank with regular gasoline.
And nothing really happens, because a woman starts yelling at the guy pumping gas and he goes over to her. I won't say walk, but more of a modified Humpty Dances his way over there. I think at some point in time the attendant possibly suffered a stroke, which would explain the walk, but as we will learn, he is quite the operator and anything was possible at this bizarro gas station.
Two minutes pass before this fellow returns. Having forgotten my order, he asks again, which was to be expected. As soon as he starts pumping my gas, he goes off on a tirade about the other customer, wanting a specific amount of gas, rather than filling her tank, as if she was trying to order lobster instead of receive gas. He then asks if I am local and not really thinking, I indicate that I'm not, as I thought he was just making conversation. He even puts his hand in my open window to express his regret, which I quickly shake to get him out of my car.
$30.70 worth of gas was pumped into the tank. If you are paying cash at a full service station, the custom is for the attendant to pump to the nearest dollar. I can think of one time in the last ten years where the attendant didn't do so and he was pumping to the nearest quarter. This hustler just said, $31.00 without doing the rest of the fill up, which if I am not mistaken is illegal, since he is charging me for a product and not providing it. To me, it was thirty cents, so I was willing to let it go. But I started thinking. Let's say he does this to thirty customers a day, that's nine dollars he is skimming off the top. That's $45 per week and $180 per month. It's like he is getting his cable bill or more than a few handles of alcohol or maybe, just maybe some erotic daguerreotypes for his pleasure. I still don't like being cheated, but such is the way of the world.
So, I hand our hustling friend a fifty dollar bill, since my bank's ATM practices this new form of hatred where it dispenses fifties instead of twenties. While I understand inflation and limited spaces in ATMs, fifty dollar bills are still an oddity in the currency world. No one ever talks about spending a Grant for a reason. Expecting nineteen dollars in change, since I've given our hustler friend fifty dollars, he hands me two five dollar bills and four singles. Now, I might let the thirty cents go by with no more than a friendly whatever, but five dollars is definitely in the complaint zone. I inform our friend that he has only given me fourteen dollars and he takes back a five dollar bill and hands me a ten from a separate stack of money he had hidden away. This leads me to believe this is a pretty standard trick for our hustler with non-regular customers.
So, with most of my change and a full tank of gas, I drive on to the show, swearing to never purchase gasoline along Route 130 in the Windsors again.
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