Good story. And I'm more than old enough to remember the days of real service stations, cheap gas, and a simpler more considerate time (waxing philosophical here).
I have also had that same encounter with the bad pump, see the attendant, "how much do you want?", "I want to fill it", "how much do you want?" routine. I wasn't a happy camper with the encounter, however, as I recall, I just finally gave the guy a likely amount and went out and pumped the gas.
Oh well ... "modern times" I suppose.