pre-pay pumps after dark

it was not absent-minded at all, it was long, thoughtful, created a lot of good points (some that i agree with), and was quite humorous, at times. you are a very good debater and i would not be surprised at all if you won, due to how well you speak & argue but, still i think that it is ridiculous to make pre-payment mandatory. yes, because it annoys me but also because, as you said.. there ARE other people in the world.. many are ALSO annoyed with pre-payment. stealing is a horror, yes. but we can't just institute measure after measure after measure for everything that is a horror, we'd never be able to do anything! by the way, pre-payment probably takes less than 5 minutes, as you said, but still.. it's an annoyance that many people suffer because of SOME thieves. there are so many other measures that can be taken that DON'T annoy the honest, paying customer SUCH AS: (according to gas theft.com ) Setup surveillance cameras (even dummy cams) to deter theives, video footage is proof of theft. Do NOT authorize cars with no plates, covered plates, or who pull in backwards. Simply WATCH and make eye contact with drivers who are pumping gas, if they feel they are being watched, they will not drive away without paying. Always know which pumps have and have not paid for their gas. Knowing makes it a lot easier to spot cars driving away without paying. Train employees to write down license plate information as well as car and people descriptions for anyone suspicious. Keep a "hot list" of known theives and share information with other stations. NONE of those things annoy me! NONE of those things will cause me to pull up to a gas station, realize it's pre-pay & LEAVE to go to another one (has happened, multiple times!) if other people are like me and so annoyed with pre-pay that they will leave and go to another, they lose business. why would they want to lose business? now they have less theft AND less paying customers. i am not saying that we are arguing prepayment at other places, i am saying that it would be the same thing as theft happens everywhere! it's like "oh people steal here lets stop it by making it prepay" then other places "oh hey look what shell is doing, lets do it too!" businesses usually take ideas from one another, why not this one? that is especially scary to think about.. why should people be made to prepay before they even know what they want? what happened to options?! you say it would "force" others to learn self control.. self control is great to have, don't get me wrong, buuuut why are attempting to FORCE things upon people now? that doesn't seem too fair to me, i don't enjoy being forced to do things, not only do i now enjoy it, i am pretty sure it's not what this country is about. last i knew, usa was SUPPOSED to be a free country.. but now we have so many laws "for the good" of the people that really, imo, just interfere with PERSONAL lives & lifestyles.. it's hardly "free" anymore. (please don't take this the wrong way, i am not saying we are not a free country, as we are much more free than other countries, just that we are heading towards less freedoms) "pics or you're lying" ..clever! i don't want to be a liar, phone number? lol just kidding. :) carrying extra cash, now that you mention it, would be a wise thing with my family things that may occur.. maybe i'll begin to do so. but not for you! aand, agreeing with your wise decision to carry extra cash does not mean that i agree that it would be good to prepay! i also agree with you that it DOES help to decrease gasoline theft, i looked it up, it's gone down tremendously. still, it's annoying! just because something works to decrease a crime, does not mean it should be in place. murder is wrong, but we don't have people tailing people to make sure they don't kill someone, especially if they've never killed before, or look suspicious to kill someone.. that would be annoying. just like making people prepay, who have never stolen gas before and who do not look suspicious, is annoying! don't take this as getting off subject, i in no way want to talk about murder, just an example of another thing that would decrease a crime tremendously that doesn't need to be instituted! i am not arguing, solely, because i dislike prepayment, i am arguing because MANY people are affected by it. i also dislike taxes and would love to stop paying them, that's another argument though, but i am not saying that i have the license to stop prepaying because it's an inconvenience for me, i am saying that it should be gotten rid of! getting rid of taxes would be great too, but 1. that's a new argument 2. that's a lot more difficult & affects a lot more PEOPLE negatively.. which is what i am worried about, the people. i love that you use apathy, that's a perfect word! i am rather apathetic when it comes to the economy, you'll see that with me not actually having the psychological condition, kleptomania, but just prefering to take things over paying for them. my bad. honestly, the government, economy, corporate america.. apathetic. if that makes me a bad person, oh well. i care about myself and other PEOPLE. if people are more concerned with instituting law after law that declines crime, then by all means.. vote pro. buuut if people are more concerned with personal lives and lifestyles not being effected just because some people choose to be criminals, vote con. if he wins, fine. buuuut he should make me fettucine alfredo to make me feel better, 'cause it's my favorite.<3