So it was late summer and I was working my
first well paying job at a gas station. I’d done tons of under the table stuff like
a bouncer and cleaning up bars when they were closed but I had become really proud of the
fact I was working this hard. For reference, i'm a male and I was 19 years
old at the time. Anyway, let’s call this gas station I was
working at the Mell Store. At Mell Store we had three shifts. The morning, the afternoon, and the overnight
shifts. Seems pretty standard for any store that would
be working really hard to screw over their employees. What I mean by that is there are usually supposed
to be three people working on the first two shifts so that everything can be managed without
much difficulty. Except for the evening shift, which had only
one person who had to be trained as a supervisor to work. And That was me at the time of this story. I had made it to supervisor in a couple months
which added to my boosted ego at the time, but then the only other supervisor, we'll
call him Jeff, decides to quit and goes to make a living in watch making. Anyway, I’m working at the Mell Store on
the Afternoon shift when I got the news about the other supervisor, because this guy had
apparently never heard of a two weeks notice before and I get told I have to pull the Late
night shift, but if I do I get overtime pay and a day off. I’m pretty stoked about the idea of a day
off so I accept my fate and get ready for a grueling night by telling Tammy, one of
our new coworkers, that I’m going to take a nap in the back office to get ready for
it and to wake me up when her shift is up so I can start closing down the store. When working the night shift we have to go
ahead and shut the front door, lock it down tight, turn off all the lights, and operate
out the window with a neat little box that let’s people put in their cash and allows
me to give them a few items through it after they pay. This is pretty helpful mostly when people
wanna act like drunken idiots who would otherwise trash the store if we let them in this late. I had maybe three customers before midnight
struck and I could lock the doors, but as soon as I did this guy comes out of nowhere
in a truck pulled in like a maniac and nearly hit the front door to the gas station before
screeching to a halt, backing up and then hopping out. He looked pretty lanky and medium in height
so I wasn’t really afraid of him, at first. He walked up to the door and stared at me
as I tried to tell him through the door we were closed but I’d be happy to see him
at the window next to the register. He didn’t say a word and just kept staring
at me before smiling, showing me these nasty cracked yellow teeth that looked like they
hadn’t been brushed a day in his life, but it’s the Midwest so I’m used to some guys
looking like this. Then, he walked over to the window, but in
a really slow way that seemed to be done to intentionally to piss me off. So I took my time instead and shut off the
main lights to the building, smiling back at him each step of the way, like I was some
badass or something. When I got over to the window he was still
smiling and at this point I assumed he would be drunk and my hand kinda twitched towards
the phone we kept under the register, but I decided I didn’t really have enough proof
on that to call the cops. Drinking and driving was taken pretty seriously
at the store by the head manager but we had to be sure before getting the police involved. Finally he says something and it catches me
off guard. “I’d like a cat in a bag.” I raise my eyebrow at him and say, “Excuse
me. You want what now?” That’s when his eyes narrow and he starts
to really study my face and then looks down at my name tag. To make it clear, I look a little bit like
Jeff, the supervisor from before, so what he said next made some sense. “Oh, thought you was Jeff. He leave any of the good stuff for me? An eight ball maybe?” I know what an eight ball is but only from
hearing it on the news and stuff so I just shake my head at him, a little bit bewildered
he’d be so casual about it with someone who he’d never dealt with before and so
I ask him if there’s anything else he’d like. He gives me a huff and just says, “Gas then.” He then puts his card in the box and I pull
it in. Our practice for this was if they gave us
their card first we go ahead and let them pump as much as they want and just swipe the
card afterwards. We put a lot of faith into our customers like
that but the policy sort of changed after this for very obvious reasons. So, we'll nickname this guy "Mark". Mark pulled up to pump 6 and positioned himself
so I couldn’t really see him pumping gas, so I go back to working on cleaning up the
store. Ten minutes later and I realize the pump never
gave a beep for stopping so I look out the window to check on him, and Mark is standing
outside of the door, dripping wet in what I assumed at the time was gas, and just smiling
in at me. I run to the register and hit the emergency
off, stopping whatever gas might still be spilling out and I’m thinking, and hoping
against all odds, that it was all just a mistake or something and that the pump handle broke
and just wouldn’t stop pumping out gas. That’s when Mark pulls out his lighter and
I hit this little pager we have under our register that looks a lot like a garage door
opener. It alerts the police and fire department incase
of a fire or a robbery. So here I am, 19 and suddenly scared shitless
because this crackhead has covered himself in gas and has now started laughing his ass
off while trying to start up his zippo lighter. And the only thing keeping me separated from
him is a flimsy glass door. He starts banging on the door with his free
hand, still trying to light his lighter and he’s saying something along the lines of,
“Tell Jeff I want my stuff!” He’s just repeating this over and over and
I don’t get why he just couldn’t go and bother Jeff instead of me. Well the police and Fire department arrived
but that only made Mark hurry up with the lighter, shouting for them to stay back. To shorten a really gruesome part, Mark lit
himself on fire. The Firefighters tackled him down and put
it out but he was evading them for a couple seconds and he was definitely seriously burned
before they could put it out. The good news was he didn’t catch the gas
that was left on the ground on fire so I had to clean that up with this kitty litter shit
we had in the back. I heard a day later Mark died in the hospital,
mostly because he was hopped up on a bunch of shit on top of the burns that he received. The thing that sticks with me is the smell
he left behind just outside the front door where they put him out, that burned skin and
hair smell. I quit the next month after putting in my
two week notice. I couldn’t handle the stress of the overnight
at that place after that. To add a bit of backstory I was an active
duty Marine a year prior to this story happening. Granted we are trained to take lives and deploy
to other countries to fight. Sad to say that I never got the opportunity
to deploy. BUT! If I wasn't trained as a marine I honestly
think I wouldnt be here telling this story. Now onto the story. This story took place last year on a cool
summer night here in Arizona. I just got off from work and took a co-worker
home from a late night dinner after the shift. I passed by a gas station after I dropped
her off. I was working 2 jobs at the time so it was
already late, around 2:00 am. I knew an energy drink would help me wake
up tomorrow morning for my next job. So I was slowly pulling into this EMPTY gas
station. I noticed no other cars anywhere. that's when something caught my eye as I was
pulling up in front of the entrance. There was a shadowy figure that suddenly pulled
up along one of the walls of the gas station. It crept along the walls getting closer as
I pulled up and turned off my car. But at the time I couldn't care less because
I was tired and I figured he was just a drunk about to ask for change or something like
that. I saw the outline of his face as he pulled
away from the shadows. He opened his mouth to say something. But before he could say anything, I cut him
off and said "Hey, ill be right back sir."
he just stood there and then stared at me as I walked into the gas station. I wasn't even thinking about him cause I was
tired and just wanted to go home. I swooped up my favorite energy drink and
walked up to the cashier. I Paid for my drink in a matter of a minute,
as the cashier wasn't in the mood to make any small talk. I pushed the entrance door open and I noticed
that the man was no longer there. I was looking around for the man as I approached
my car to only see him coming from the dark corner again. But something seemed off about him this time. I didn't care to stick around to see what
was off about him, and went to go open my car door. Then I heard rapid foot steps approach from
behind me. I turned around as fast as possible to make
eye contact with him. He was just staring at me less then a arms
reach away. Every option suddenly ran to my head screaming
to just get in the dam car and slam the door. But he was already too close for me to try
anything without him trying to do something. So I wanted to try to create a peaceful conversation
as a desperate attempt to try to get this creep away from me. I said
"Hey... its you again. Is there something I can do for you??" his whisper had a scratchy tone to it as he
said "Got any change? I was actually thrilled! I was happy cause I could just give this creep
some money as a peaceful resolution. I said
"Sure do! hold on ill dig it out for you." by the time I grabbed a fist full of change
as I leaned into my car, I heard the passenger door behind me open and then I felt a handful
of my hair get pulled into my drivers seat. My hair got yanked back really hard as he
whisperd "You fucking scream or yell ill fucking kill
you!" then I felt a knife slowly glide over my throat...
he then whispered "Understand?" I carefully nodded up and down. he then replied
"Now we are going to New Mexico! Dont do anything stupid or ill cover your
cars interior with your blood!" at the time I was thinking
"FUCK!!! THIS CANT BE REAL!? FUCK!" So I had to think and relax. Thats one thing that my Commanding Officer
said in the Corps. "The key to victory is a clear conscious & a
cool head" so I asked him "OK, how we going to do this? you tell me
directions? I can then feel his grip on my hair loosen. "Good! smart kid! I hate it when they beg me to let them go. Now use your GPS or whatever." his knife was still gently pressed up against
70% or so of my throat. So I told him I was slowly going to reach
into my glove department for my GPS. Then I asked him where in New Mexico we were
going? he laughed and told me to just shut up and
drive why was he laughing now!? This guy was a complete psycho! I was there driving and praying in my head
for a chance to open where I would be able to fight back. I can tell that his knife was starting to
get loose around my neck for every 5 mins I drove. The knife at the start of this drive was at
70% but now it was at around 50%. I had to make a right at the intersection. Finally, I saw an oppurtunity. I saw this Ford Ranger (Pick up truck) coming
down the street I was supposed to join on. In my head I asked myself
"Do you really want to die a coward?!" Then, as I saw the Ford Ranger approach at
a rapid rate, I PRESSED ALL the way down ON THE GAS. Then BOOM! All I remember from all the commotion is the
guy leaning back as I slid my hand under his wrist of the hand that was carrying the knife
and pinned it against the steering wheel of my car. I can hear the horn blaring attracting more
attention. He let go of the knife and ran out of the
car as the intersection made itself known to me again as my surroundings were no longer
blurry. I wanted to run after him but the driver of
the Ford Ranger grabbed me and said "HEY! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!? DO YOU HAVE INSURANCE!?" I was trying to push through the guy to catch
that fucking coward! but the only words that escaped my mouth were
"DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!!!!" That was all I was yelling as I saw the dark
silhouette of the man disappearing into the darkness.. I told the police everything when they arrived. I did everything you're supposed to, but nothing
really ever came of it, and they didn't see anyone matching my description of the man. I now carry my gun on me and a few knives,
So I WILL NEVER be the victim of something like this again. I am a female and I was working day shift
at my job at the gas station in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was fairly quiet, and I was by the register
doing chores while my assistant manager Dan was counting money locked back in the office. It was a Saturday morning and very slow which
was pretty normal on a Saturday. I was cleaning the registers and counters
when this tall, lanky guy walks in and I greet him as he quickly walks into to the bathroom. He was tan and had dark wavy hair that was
unkept and he was wearing a long green jacket with jeans and a t-shirt. I just figured he really needed to go do his
business and I continued to do my chores so I wouldn't get in any kind of trouble later. My work was interrupted when the man came
out of the bathroom sounding like something really bad happened. "Excuse me miss, I'm so sorry." He kept apologizing profusely. "I accidentally clogged the toilet and it's
really bad." I reluctantly told him that I would clean
it up and that he didn't have to worry about it. "I can clean it up; do you have a plunger
or something?" I told him that we had a plunger and again
that he didn't have to worry about it. He kept insisting. I started to feel uneasy. I was beginning to think he wasn't just insisting
to be nice. I told him once again that I would clean it
up and that it was my job. I started for the supply closet which was
right in between both bathrooms and I thought would be where the plunger was. He followed directly behind me. He opened the door to the men's restroom and
held it open. "Come on I'll help you clean it." My heart started to pound and my head was
screaming for me not to put one foot near that bathroom. "I feel bad just come in and we'll clean it." He wouldn't stop. I stepped back. "I'll clean it. I just have to get my assistant manager." I stammered starting to walk toward the office. He gave me this annoyed look on his face. I knocked on the office door and the guy was
standing right by me. Dan answered the door and I told him I needed
his help for something and that I needed him out front. At first, he almost locked the door back up
but I asked him again with the most scared look on my face. "Dan, I REALLY need you up here." I was so happy when he caught my signal. He walked up to the front and started engaging
in conversation with the guy. The guy was telling him what was going on
while I put on gloves and snuck into the men's restroom. What I found gave me chills, he purposely
stuffed paper towels into the toilet so it clogged up. There was nothing else in there. I walked out of the bathroom shocked at my
findings. My assistant manager turned his back and the
guy looked down at me and smiled like a child finding the perfect toy. He was still apologizing for the bathroom
and he brushed the back of his hand down my arm. I was shocked but if I wasn't and in my right
mind, I would have told him to keep his fucking hands off me. He stuck around a little longer and eventually
got gas. When he left, he smiled at me and walked out
to his pump, and kept looking back to me. I told my assistant manager what had happened
and he was taken aback by what I told him. Luckily one of my regulars saw the guy getting
talked to by cops a few days afterwards and was told he wasn't allowed in the area anymore. I was relieved to hear that but I still shudder
when I think about what could have happened if I had went into the bathroom with him. I now keep pepper spray underneath my register
at all times because you never know what could happen, day or night.
