Avoid at all Costs

If you find yourself in the neighborhood around 6 o’clock in the morning and need a Nature Valley granola bar or some coffee, for the love of God, DO NOT go to the Mobil gas station on State Street in New Haven (next to Modern Pizza). Today was the third time this school year I stopped here instead of the Shell station on Willow. I usually don't stop anywhere, but we were out of bagels.

To begin, there is nothing wrong with the gas station itself. The place is well stocked, lit, and maintained. The problem is with the mutant they have working the early (or late) shift. I’m not sure he is human. He seems to understand English, but can’t recreate the sounds himself- like a dog.

I won’t go through the other two times I had to deal with this freak, I’ll just stick to today.

When I got there, I thought the place was empty. As I was walking to the food isle, I saw the top of his strange little head emerge from behind the counter (I felt like I was disturbing him or that I had caught him in the act of something). When I came back to the counter with my Newtons and granola, I realized he was cleaning his ears out with a q-tip. After switching hands to get the other ear and take a long look at the end of the swab, he started to handle my breakfast with the crustiest hands I’ve seen. I don't think he was even doing any math as, oddly enough, the bill came up to exactly $3.00. I think he just wanted to share the wax. I had my card out to pay. He noticed, put out his hand and grunted (sounded a bit like debit). Thankfully Mobil has one of those machines where you can swipe the card yourself. I said “Yeah. Debit. I got it.” I then left the earwax-covered items on the counter, picked up the same items from the shelf and told him to go wash his hands.