I was drunk and couldn't drive, so my wife took me to get more beer. She asked me to put gas in our vehicle so I did because it was cold out. I noticed the pump behind me had the nozzle sitting on the ground which was hilarious to me. I took a snapchat picture and posted it saying "what a dumbass!" then I went inside to get my beer.

I get back in the truck and I'm having a grand old time showing my wife what the idiot behind us must have done when I hear the "CLUNK". I was told I turned as white as a ghost. I'd done it. It was my fault.

I went inside, the cashier knew I was drunk (I was being obnoxious). I was profusely apologized and admitted it was all my fault. She went outside with me, explained it didn't break and that they can reattach it, BUT there's a charge.

The cashier then said to me "get in your truck and get as far away as possible immediately. I didn't see you, this didn't happen, and I don't know what happened to the camera footage. Have a nice night."

I hopped in the truck and just told my wife DRIVE. Security came rolling up as we were leaving (by chance).

How can you forget that the hose is still connected to your car when you drive off?

I think the key step here is to not remember it.

Look at this guy with his functioning brain that never forgets something just by walking 10 feet

Never did manage to do that, but was close twice (none of my car would let you drive with a open fuel tank cover).

First was babybrain. Extended periods of not sleeping more than 1.5h in a row and not more than 4h a day in total because your kid is sick/toothing are doing weird things in your brain.

The second time was during COVID. I work as a paramedic part time and we did change our shift model to 24h shifts due to so many sick colleagues. Was the second shift "in a row" (24h on, 24h off, 24h on). Well..None of those shifts were 24h, most were 25-26h. Because we got hammered by calls. Literally no downtime, one critical patient after another. When driving home I had to get gas. Forgot to pay (we post pay here), forgot to take the god damn hose out. Nearly cried when the fucking car didn't start (due to the hose being in).

So TLDR: Not enough sleep is the answer for me here.

Thanks for the responses.

TIL: Americans pay first, then fill. Now I can understand how you could easily get distracted once it is in and locked.

To clarify : this is absolutely impossible to accidentally happen in the EU, because the payment transaction isn't completed until the nozzle is placed back onto its support (that's when the pump shuts off).

My FIL did it three times and his answer was "lol" so iono

Follow-up question for Americans : what happens if you pay for, say 50$ and end up only filling up 40$? Can you go back to the cashdesk and ask for a refund on the difference?

Your not thinking about it. Muscle memory.

Something distracts you, a phone call, a loud sound, kids, suddenly remembering a urgent matter. You forgot where you were in the process and just skip a step.

Human nature. The same reason drivers can just run into a wall, car and train! Routine becomes ignore and you just forget / zone it out

This is why almost self driving cars are so dangerous. They will throw people into responsible driving mode and they won't have been paying attention.

So... OP....

I gotta ask... why this question? I feel like there's a story here.

Super tired and defeated from your daily grind

I don't know. In my country no gas can be paid unless the nozzle has been placed back. The machine registers as "still pumping", and the gas station attendant sees this and cannot process the payment. Why you would do this any other way baffles my mind.

It has nothing to do with when or how you pay.

It's all about the lock that lets you leave the nozzle pumping while you go do something else. That's what makes it easy to forget you have the nozzle in your car, since you're not holding it for the entire filling process.

I'm paranoid I'm going to do this one day from lack of sleep.

I did it once. You pay first at pump, I went into store to get snacks, came back kids melting down in back seat, dealt with that, got in and forgot all about it. Remembered just as I pulled about 6 inches too far away. Oops.

You pull up. Get out. Put the nozzle in. Then you go inside. There, you wait in line for 5 minutes, because the dick from another pump decided to buy a fucking coffee and a sandwich, and the only employee is busy making those for him, instead of operating the pumps. Then you actually pay and get the gas flowing. By the time you're back at the car, it's already finished pumping.

So, there can be a time gap of several minutes with multiple actions and distractions during it. Is it really that surprising people forget to pull the thing out, occasionally?

Do some countries or areas have gas pumps that you just insert and then they pump without you constantly squeezing the handle? The ones I'm used to feel kinda impossible to forget because there is no reason to ever let go of the hose handle until it's back in place.

Judgey as fuck. People are not machines.