Propane rant - stop acting entitled

Today, I had a customer who needed their 100lb propane tank filled. No biggie - I meet them outside, and they already have their tank on the scale. I check the date and set the scale, and start to hook up.

The customer decides to pull out their vape, maybe 3 feet away from the tank, and just starts sucking it like they were tryna get a golf ball out of it. Mind you, our tank is in the process of being refilled, and there's a shit ton of vapor around.

I simply ask the customer to step away to the grills if he intends to vape. "It's not that serious." I tell them, "You know it really is, there is a reason you can pump your own gas, but not your own propane." They mumble some shit under their breath, take a step back, and I move on with the process.

Tank is full, and they pay.

"Do you need a hand standing it back up in your truck?"

"No, I'm gonna lay it down."

"You can't lay it down. It puts too much pressure on the seal and can cause a leak / if you get into a wreck, can become a torpedo."

"Fine"

"Do you have any straps?"

"Nope"

At this point, I've radioed for my TM to have the fire station on standby to come condemn the tank (not literally, more so to get the guy to know that this is seirous, see Edit 1). They finally realize that I'm being serious and decide to go buy some straps. They decide to cuss at me (whatever) and think that I'm trying to haggle them.

You're not entitled to have your tank refilled just because we have propane. We HAVE to follow the law and make sure you know it too. You can throw a piss fit as much as you'd like, but if you leave with a tank that large laying down, I will report your ass, and you can enjoy that $5000 fine.

At this point, if I see a 100-lb tank, I'm asking to see your straps you intend to use for tie down. Don't have them? Sucks, no propane then.

EDIT 1: did not expect this to blow up, was a simple rant. A lot of agreement, and a lot of disagreement...

• yes, we have actually called the FD before. They are right down the road and stop by our store daily to shop, along with police that stake the highway. They love to inform upset customers more than we do.

• i could care less if you did it last time or for the last decade. I'm not going to risk my job, nor my stores propane license, just because you "need your propane." Don't have a way to secure it? Sucks.

• yes, vaping is considered the same as smoking. For the love, use some common sense and don't do it near a 1000 gallon tank of explosive liquid. We simply ask that you step away to do it.

• we don't get paid enough, sure, but when you have family that works at the ER and who drive these roads daily, the last thing I want is to contribute to another accident because are careless towards others.

EDIT 2: Really didn't expect this to blow up (almost like a propane tank 🥁).

It's really interesting to see both sides of this argument. A lot of feathers ruffled here. At the end of the day, it comes down to the safety of you and me. I'm going to continue to enforce it because it quite literally is my job. That's what my license for it says I do, so I'll do it.