Someone asked a while back about new looks at the lame gas prices story. Here’s Tom Hallman (thanks, Audrie): From his perch behind the gas station’s cramped counter, Austin Egland looks out the window at the empty pump islands. He wonders whether he has time to run to the bathroom before a customer arrives.
The Arco station, at Southeast 39th and Belmont, is one of the city’s busiest, selling an average of 9,000 gallons a day. Egland has learned to seize slow moments.
He grabs a key from a wall hook and hustles out a side door. Soon, he’s back behind the counter, adjusting the cigarette display and lining up the coffee pots. He watches a fellow pump jockey, outside near the pumps, use the break to bite into a pastry and gaze at the traffic buzzing by.
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