Tending to Mobility: Intensities of Staying at the Petrol Station

This paper reports a study of ongoing social activities at a petrol station. Petrol stations constitute a nexus for mobility. Through ethnographic observations the author tests how the continuous flow of vehicles, commodities, money, and people are sustained and made accountable. The fieldwork demonstrates that, despite its transitory character, the petrol station offers a wide spectrum of ‘duration of stay’. The station was used while being-on-the-way as well as providing a possibility to disembark from automobility, that is, being-off-the-way. However, the most important finding is that the station tends to mobility, from the production and recognition of fluency, the constant negotiation and articulation work of situations, to continuous maintenance and repair of movement. Accomplishing a flow of people, vehicles, money, and commodities is a complex and delicate task requiring subtle negotiation between staff and visitors as well as among visitors themselves. A negotiation supported and hampered by available materialities of the place.