I’m an American in Australia and there’s a seriously confusing part of your culture that I struggle with

A young American woman in Australia has several questions after visiting a gas station for the first time.

Tate Duane moved from California to Melbourne in 2022 and couldn’t ignore it Aussies can fill up their tanks before paying for fuel.

Tate expected her to pay the amount she needed first, which is the norm in the US.

“I’m so confused, I’m at the gas station pouring gas into the car myself for the first time,” she said in a video.

“I just went in to try to put $50 on the pump or give (the employee) cash to set it up because you don’t have tap-and-pay — but she (declined).”

Tate explained that the gas station attendant was also confused.

‘She said, ‘What are you doing? You don’t have a license plate?’ I thought, “a license plate? What?”

The American did not expect that she would be able to refuel her car before she had paid.

‘Am I stupid? I don’t really know what I’m doing here because there’s nowhere to get your card out here.

‘In the US you can just tap your card on the machine, pump and drive away. It’s locked until you do, so you can’t steal gas. I’m so confused. Someone explain.’

Tate also asked questions about what to do in an emergency or outside business hours.

“Also, what do you do when you’re trying to get gas in the middle of the night and there’s no one working at the gas station inside? Are these things open 24 hours a day?’

Several gas stations in Australia are staffed 24/7, but some also have tap and pay options.

Another aspect that differed Down Under was that you had to fill up with gas yourself.

She revealed that US stations have an automatic lock that fills as much as you pay, and the pump is physically locked to your car.

“Tell me why you guys don’t keep those clicky things (the pump) in place,” Tate said.

“You have to stand here all the time and that’s a bit annoying.”

A few Australians shed light on the matter.

“We are trusted here to pay after we fill up on fuel,” one said.

‘I think the prepayment system is wild. How do you know how much you need? What if you pay $50, but it only comes to $40?” asked another.

“The click thing was removed in the 1990s for safety reasons,” one woman explained.

“They can fail and not stall, and people forget to take the engine out and drive away while it’s still in the car. Most of the servos are on 24/7 and someone is working.”