Rockin' the gas pumps.

Last night I stopped on my way in to get gas. I went in to pay, and noticed the...person behind the counter seemed rather gender-neutral. He/she was not "androgynous" in an Annie Lennox/David Bowie sense. He/she actually reminded me more of Otto the bus driver on the Simpsons. Long, scruffy hair, an oversized Baja shirt (circa 1992) and absolutely no facial features that would identify him/her as male or female.

So I waited in line behind two other people, but I still could not tell what sex this kid was. When I finally got up to pay, I said "I'd like $15 on pump two, please." It was then that I realized the kid was a boy (or a really, really deep-voiced girl. With an Adam's apple), when he said, rather excitedly "rockin'!"

"Rockin'?"

I was so tempted to follow that up by saying "with Dokken?" but I refrained (a) because I didn't want anyone to know that I knew who Dokken was and (b) I figured he'd be too young to get the reference. He couldn't have been more than 17.

Walking back to the car, I was half amused and half bumfuzzled. "Rockin'?" Whatever happened to "thank you?" Maybe I'm just boring.

The next time anyone calls up and says they'd like to apply for a mortgage, I think I'm gonna say "rockin'!"