the weird stuff you can buy at petrol stations

It wasn't free with fuel or anything, but I bought from my local garage a:

Plastic, rotating, musical fibre optic ponsettia.

It had pride of place in work's Christmas decorations until it started to emit a very peculiar burning smell.

As an aside, our nearest garage has a fine selection of soft porn 'nearly real' films. For example, Pulp Friction.

A dog water bottle would be quite useful. I have ended up at Mac Donalds before now, just to get a paper cup of water for my dog when we've ended up out without her water/bowl.

I can't think of anything odd at our local petrol stations. they all seem to be supermarkets by us.

Wine is the only way they can make money!

The people that own or run the Shell or Esso stations make something crazy like 0.02p per gallon of fuel so they have to sell random stuff in the store to make a profit. hence the porn, wine and dvd hire!

Our local petrol station sells indian porn,including under the counter dvd of indian women in all their glory.

Does anybody remember the random items you could "buy" with Esso Tiger Tokens?

Actually, when I was at college I worked part-time at our local Shell Station and we had lots of promotions for their Shell Tokens (or whatever they were called). I still remember with shame the Pudsey Bear mugs that you could 'buy', as they made us wear Pudsey t-shirts to work - so not cool when you're 19 [laugh).

People used to get really shirty about getting their points. I still remember a guy having a real go at me because he didn't buy enough fuel for an extra token, but he still demanded that I gave it to him - not a chance!. If he'd been nice about it I'd have probably just given it to him, but he was an arrogant arse about it. Oh, the power of a petrol station cashier ?

Petrol stations really do seem to specialize in those wonderfully random products that make you stop and wonder, "Who actually buys this?" A dog water bottle is a perfect example, along with unbreakable drinking glasses, oversized torches, emergency gadgets, novelty cleaning products, and other things you probably would never think to put on your shopping list. The fuel discounts make them even more tempting, because after filling the tank you somehow start convincing yourself that the 5 pound gadget is a bargain, even though you would never have gone looking for it anywhere else.

It is almost like spotting a 20 galones a litros conversion on the pump display, completely unexpected, but somehow interesting enough to make you stop and look. These little shelves of oddities have become a quiet tradition of their own, tucked between the sweets and the motor oil, and part of the fun is simply never knowing what strange item will catch your eye next time you stop for fuel.