Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I stopped for gas at a little Mom & Pop store to get gas. No card reader on the pump so I went inside. The woman asked how much I wanted and told her I didn't know how much it would take. She then told me to go fill up and come back in to pay. I haven't pumped and then paid in at least 8 years!

I stayed in a hotel on my trip and locked myself out of the room when I went for breakfast. I went to the desk for a new key card and they issued one without checking for ID. I could have been someone wanting to commit a robbery, or other crime. This did not make me feel very secure leaving valuables in my room.

BebuLamar

The gas station trust you and if you steal from them a gas tank so be it. The hotel clerk may remember you when you checked in and doesn't need to check you ID. I do not say that being irresponsible.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

The clerk was not the one on duty when I checked in.

jonyrot

One of the perks of traveling to small towns is the trust that people have in one another, coming from a place where that is not the norm could take a bit to get used too.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Good news and bad news. : )

druthven

My brother lives in Mason Texas, Pop. 2,119. There are several gas station in town but the one he uses is a pump and then go inside to settle up. Harks back to the 1950's when I didn't even know where a key to my front door was and the car in the driveway had the keys in it.

redtooth

Maybe its because you have such a trusting looking face .

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

I'm with you Bridges. Not checking identity would have me worried as well. However times sure have changed. Many years ago, while living in NYC, I would go to Vermont every August and rent a ski house for a group of us. One year as I finalized the rental agreement I asked for keys to the house. The owners told me there weren't any but we didn't have to worry about keeping the door open. Well as a bunch of city folks we weren't about to leave the house unlocked with our possessions there. They provided keys.
Those people probably spent most of their lives with unlocked doors

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The first cruise I took from NYC to Bermuda was on the old British ship Franconia. The cabin doors did not lock.

BebuLamar

And they don't get robbed. Trust is a very important thing.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The Mom and Pop store may have their ways of dealing with gas theft. In some places, there are video cameras that record your license place numbers, and the local patrol are on speed dial. Of course, they may find that trust, courtesy, and convenience bring more people back to their store than suspicion and pre-assumption of guilt.

Hotel clerks should always ask for ID when they don't know a person asking for a key. Otherwise, all kinds of bad things can happen. OTOH, in a small town, strangers stand out...

I went to Davidson College back in the mid-1970s when the town of Davidson, NC, had about 3000 residents including 1300 students and the college employees. We were out in the middle of nowhere, then. Charlotte has grown North along I-77 and the entire area of North Mecklenburg County is densely populated now.

Davidson College has long had an honor code that all students sign when they enter as freshmen, and self-enforce quite strictly with an honor court thereafter. They still post everyone's signature in glass cases in the lobby of the main administration and classroom building.

Back in the '70s, we didn't lock our dorm doors. We didn't lock our bikes. We could leave our books sitting in a carrel in the library, or just about anywhere else, with no fear of theft or loss. There was one 75-year-old security guard who drove a miniature jeep around the campus. He couldn't stop a six-year-old kid if he had to. He was there for show. The vast majority of folks were straight-up honest, and those who weren't, were dismissed in short order by their peers.

That kind of trust and personal responsibility is rare! It works, still, most of the time. But there are now card locks on the dorm front doors, where they used to be left open on warm days, and unlocked 24/7 when shut. Students tend to lock their bikes, but they still leave personal belongings in the library, since an ID is needed for access to the library. Those are concessions to the fact that the college is now surrounded by the real world.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

It is highly irresponsible. No hotel should issue a card without proof of identity.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

We live 3 miles outside Eaton Ohio. Our doors are normally unlocked and keys in the cars. We enjoy it that way

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

Fleet Farm is an upper midwest chain of very large farm stores. The stores all have gas pumps, probably 8-10 islands. You have several options with Fleet Farm...Pay at the pump, or fill your tank and go inside & pay.