FILL HER UP!

In two short tales, a visit to a petrol station creates havoc, while the risk of trouble is averted by sportsmanship

Some years ago, I was chairman of an angling club in Newcastle, and one weekend we had arranged an event to a local beach, but, unfortunately, a couple of days before, my car had broken down. Knowing that my nephew had several vehicles, I telephoned him to see if I could borrow one.

The only vehicle he had that I could use was a furniture van. Being a lorry driver myself, this was no problem for me to use, so I decided to borrow it.

Turning up to where we had arranged to meet, it was decided to leave the cars where they were and all the club members got into the back of the wagon I was driving.

After the event, on the way back to Newcastle I thought I would put some diesel into the tank. Driving into a garage, I couldn’t get near any of the fuel pumps because of a lot of cars on display in the forecourt.

The manager came out and said if I was prepared to wait he’d move the vehicles blocking my route to the pumps. After spending ages moving all these cars and putting them on to the road behind the garage, he guided me forward to the fuel pump, took the cap off and asked how much I wanted.

When I said “one gallon please” I swear he had steam coming out of his ears and was three feet off the ground with rage. He told me to go away (or words to that effect) and refused to serve me.

SPORTING GREATS

Each year, the European Salmon Trolling Championships were held at alternate venues in Finland and Sweden. That year, it was the turn of Sweden to be hosts, and one evening, after that day’s competition, the Finnish team and myself (I was an honorary member) went for a burger and a drink.

The building where the café was located could hold about 300 people at long tables divided by a walkway. That night there was also an ice hockey match between Finland and Sweden, which was being shown on a huge television at one end of the room.

On one side of the passageway were all Swedes, and on our side all the Finns. A lot of the audience were ice hockey players, including three of our team, meaning there were some tough guys among the men in the room.

Suddenly, Finland scored and the room went wild. All the Swedes stood up, turned and walked towards us and I thought “This is it, I’m dead”. But no, they all shook hands with the Finns and congratulated them. Shortly after, Sweden scored and this time all the Finns stood up and walked across and shook hands with the Swedes.

That, to me, was true sportsmanship. After the match, which Finland won, there was one heck of a party, which continued until the early hours of the morning. ■