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Saturday, March 05, 2022

Quit Tagging Your Politics On My Property!

Tagging property with politics. Some businesses hate them doing that.

I was at a local truck stop outside of Cincinnati and I seen a hodge podge of far right propaganda. On a gas pump, there was "I did that!" sticker which has President Joe Biden pointing and "Let's Go Brandon!" inside a men's restroom stall. Upon exiting the restroom inside a mirror was "FJB" which is abbreviated for "Fuck Joe Biden" carved.

I shook my head washed my hands and went back to my car, pumped my gas and headed back home.

I am often annoyed by graffiti and unnecessary tagging on property. We have this stuff going on where politics as well as a need to just be noticed is going on.

And of course, those tireless workers at the gas station, the restaurants and other facilities tasked to cleaning up the graffiti, removing the stickers and replacing mirrors.

See we can't install cameras in the restroom. Its extremely hard to prove that an individual caused petty vandalism inside a restroom. It is extremely difficult to catch people who vandalize property. If it not in real time, it's basically a constant distraction.

A gas station manager in Alabama pleaded with customers to vandalizing his gas pumps with stickers that blame President Joe Biden for the rising cost of fuel.

The stickers first began to sweep the country last year, as gas prices began their ascent.

As gas prices surge, some people are voicing their concern with a satirical sticker at the pump.

That small sticker is causing big problems for local gas stations. It is a picture of Biden pointing to the high dollar sign and saying 'I did that' underneath. While it may seem like a funny political message to some people, the gas stations could be fined for vandalism.

"I take off 5 or 6 a day from our different pumps," says Perry Cagle. He's the assistant manger of the Exxon off Highway 72 in Athens.

As gas prices keep climbing, Cagle says the stickers are rising up with them.

"I got one here, it's the 'I did that' and then they put it by the pump and it's supposed to be that Joe, President Biden, is causing the gas to go up," he says.

The satirical joke is turning away some costumers.

"I have had one or two people come in here and complain about it," says Cagle.

Not only that, but the stickers could cost his locally owned station a corporate fine.

"The point of the matter is it's causing issues for us because we get points taken off if our corporate comes by and does inspections they do," Cagle explains.

American politics are worse than ever.

He says he is all for people voicing their political beliefs, just not at his workplace.

"Put it on your car, put it on your house. Don't vandalize private property," he says.

He adds that the person who the message is meant for will likely never see it.

"Joe Biden doesn't own this station and he's not going to come by and fill up his tank and see that sticker and say 'oh man I should've lowered gas prices today!'" says Cagle.

For those upset about high gas prices, the spokesperson for AAA says one way to help lower the price is to price shop.

That means filling up at the cheapest station in your area, rather than the most convenient or the one that you are used to.

Clay Ingram from AAA says oil companies rely on people going to the most convenient station, and that is why they are able to increase their prices.

"We need to send a message to everybody that we're buying the cheapest priced gas, and when we don't these stations get higher and higher," explains Ingram.

He says by going one to two miles out of your way, you could save up to 30 cents a gallon if you pay attention to the prices. The more people who go to the cheaper stations, the more pressure there is for other stations to drop their prices as well.

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