I went to fuel up this morning and was dismayed to find the Ozigo I fondly knew was gone and replaced with the modern corporate face of BP Australia.
Goodbye to the fresh fruit sold out the front; the staff that I recognised and liked for their casual and friendly ways; the local products sold at the counter; the outdated (and so slow!) fuel pumps; the badly cleaned toilets; the whole vaguely shambolic feel of the place. Weird to think I feel reminiscent about a petrol station, but it’s another small slice of the past being peeled from the core. I weirdly liked the challenge of rushing to get to Ozigo before closing time, but now its impending 24-hour-ness will relegate that to the past too.
The neatly uniformed man there today addressed me as sir and directed me to super saver deals at the pump, ecchhh… a little part of me withered on the vine. And so, a toast to Ozigo and its presumably now unemployed former staff – you will be missed.
Ian Colvin, Rosebank
And they don’t sell unleaded petrol any more, only E10. Minimum $80/week from me for the last 14 years, now lost, but they don’t care a whit. Neither does the Caltex. Must be many others like me, but those big corporations aren’t famous for their sensitivity to the ordinary guy, are they?