Is the followup line to “Everybody knows, that the world is full of stupid people” as belted by the band the Refreshments on their single Banditos.

Now I’ve never been a fan of this group, nor have I followed their career with any intense interest. But this particular song and its ironic message about unconscionably foolish human beings embedded itself in my brain from the first listen.

The lines pop into my mind from time to time when encountering behavior that is head-shakingly stupid.  Upon pulling in to perform a simple fueling ritual at Sheetz I happened to glance inattentively to the vehicle on the other side of the pump.

I am aware that the occurrence of a catastrophic explosion is unlikely at a gas station.  But  behavior that could prompt such an event should be avoided if possible.  At least, I believe that reasonable people would avoid such action. Yet, there is a man sitting in the car with the window down, smoking a cigarette. His hand is holding the cigarette and in between drags he dangles it lazily against the side of the car.

Having been a smoker for many years, I have no issue with the act of smoking cigarettes.  But in my smoking days I never would have imagined smoking anywhere near a gas station.  As if this behavior wasn’t alarming enough, a quick glance in the other direction afforded me a view of not one but two other individuals smoking.  Granted, they were in their cars.  But it was rather jarring to see so many people smoking near gas pumps.

In my experience, fueling up is not a long process.  I struggle to understand the lack of willpower or common sense that prompts a decision to smoke near combustible materials. Mayhaps I am missing something in this decision making process. It just struck me as bizarre.