Free--No Strings Attached

I was about ready to pump some gas into my car’s empty gas tank at a local convenience- self-service store, when an employee, Eddie, came out. “I’ll do that for you,” he said, smiling through his thick mat of a reddish beard. I gladly accepted his kind offer, and we stood talking while he pumped my gas.

“Eddie,” I said, “this is the best full-service self-service place in this county.”

“Yep,” he said. “But you would be amazed at how many people can hardly make themselves let me do this for them.”

He told me that people were often very suspicious of his offer to pump their gas. “They say things like ‘I can do it myself’ and ‘How much will it cost?’” He said most cannot believe that this service is free.

“You can’t imagine,” he told me, “how hard it is for people to accept something that is absolutely free, no strings attached.”

I can imagine that. More later on this thought…..

The gas pump picture is from "WebShots."