Pictures of a man with B.C. licence plates buying gas at a Bellingham station have the online world buzzing.
Earlier this week a man at the Bellingham Fred Meyer, where many British Columbians fill up their tanks and jerry cans with cheap American gas, grabbed the attention of a woman because of his strange behaviour.
The woman began taking photos as she said the man pumped gas into a plastic-lined duffel bag while it was inside a black garbage bag. She said she watched him fill three bags this way before tying them closed and putting them into the back of his car.
The Washington State Patrol is now investigating.
“In a bag like that, probably not a real safe idea,” Sgt. Mark Dennis said after seeing the shots.
“You run the risk of all sorts of potential, if there was an impact or anything like that. And you simply wouldn't want to have loose gasoline inside in a car.”
A spokesperson from Fred Meyer said the man is a regular customer.
This incident marks the second time this week British Columbians have been accused of behaving badly in order to save money shopping in Bellingham.
A video of frantic customers snatching up milk at the Bellingham Costco became a YouTube sensation and thousands of people from Washington joined a Facebook campaign asking for separate shopping hours for Americans. In response, Canadians started their own spoof Facebook page asking for separate hours as well.
But retail analyst David Ian Gray doesn’t think these incidents show Canadians and Americans hold real animosity for one another.
“I think a lot of people in Bellingham really appreciate the business we bring across the border. It’s one of those quirky things that goes viral on the internet, and perhaps we can behave a little more courtesy when we go down there,” he said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Shannon Paterson
