Students treated unfairly

I recently went to the Petro-Canada on Ross Road in West Kelowna to get gas.

Feeling thirsty, I decided to go into the store to buy a drink. This station is located very close to a high school and being that it was just after noon, there were many students in the store.

Upon grabbing my drink, I went to the front to pay. I was about to stand in line behind the students, who were standing orderly and respectfully, when one of the cashiers said rather loudly that's the "student" line, please go to the next cashier, that's the "adult" line.

I was taken aback for a second then said, pardon? The cashier repeated what she said about adult and student lines. I looked at her and then the students, and told the kid in the front to go up to the cash where I was supposed to go as an "adult." 

I then made my way to the back and stood behind the students in line to wait my turn to pay while talking loudly about how ridiculous that concept was. 

When I got up front to pay, I asked the cashier what the deal was. I was just buying a $2 drink, whereas the students in line had quite a lot of items in their hands. I also asked her why I should get special treatment. My time is no more valuable than the students' – and in fact they had to be back in class sooner than I had to return to my office.

I spoke to a few students out front afterwards, and they said that it was an everyday occurrence to have the two lines.

In my opinion, Petro-Canada is discriminating against the students. But why stop there? Why not form lines based on gender or colour? 

Students are consumers just as much as the next person in line and should be treated just as fairly as the random "adult" that walks in to buy nothing more than a simple drink.

Nick Latondresse