Arab Gas Station Attendant Refused Service to U.S. Soldier in Michigan-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
An Arab gas station attendant in Michigan refused to sell gas to an American soldier who was in uniform.
The Truth:
An Arab gas station attendant in Michigan didn’t refuse to sell an American soldier gas.
That rumor spread across social media sites in September 2014, and it resurfaced exactly one year later. A customer who said she had witnessed an exchange between the solider and gas station attendant in Holly, Michigan, wrote about it on Facebook:
“LOCAL GAS STATION DISRESPECTS OUR MILITARY, BUT HAS NO TROUBLE ACCEPTING OUR DOLLARS ~~ THEY SHOULD BE CLOSED DOWN BOYCOTT BOYCOTT BOYCOTT BOYCOTT…
Jason had to report to the army reserves yesterday, on his way home he stopped to get gas, a drink and some jerky. When he went into the gas station and got to the counter the Arabic man looked at Jason, then his uniform and told him ‘we don’t serve gas here.’ Mobil gas station off I-75 exit 98 address: 8435 E Holly RD, Holly MI We will never be a customer of a place like that!”
As it turns out, the woman misinterpreted the exchange. Nick Ghalib, the gas station manager, told the solider that he couldn’t buy premium gas because the station had run out and wouldn’t get more until the next day, MLive reports:
Ghalib said he barely remembers the customer who came in Thursday, because nothing out of the ordinary happened at the time. Ghalib said he wasn’t telling the man he wouldn’t sell him any gas, he was informing him that the premium gas he asked for had run out.
The premium gas gets refilled on Fridays, Ghalib said. Being that it was a Thursday, the pumps had unfortunately already run out of premium, he added.
Ghalib didn’t even know there was a problem until the next day, when another worker at the station called him at home.
Since the complaint went online, Ghalib said the station has received angry and threatening phone calls and social media messages.
Ghalib said it’s crazy to think he would disrespect or refuse service to anybody, for any reason. He added that he even allows military recruiters to set up in the store and meet with recruits.
Ghalib added that he understood the woman’s confusion because English isn’t his first language, so there’s sometimes a language barrier between him and customers.