In Oregon, as I found out from the gas station attendant Mark, it’s not okay to pump your own gas. I had a camera handy, and I asked if I could film him working. He said sure, and that I wasn’t the first to ask. After a bracing moment when he brought to my attention a little problem with my finances, we got talking, and among his perspectives he shared that he felt constrained by lack of options and money. Little did he know, I was in a similar predicament. The desire for freedom, self-determination and choice is universal. And though our paths soon diverged, I continue to think about Mark, and this brief encounter when our strained lives touched.

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