Servo: Tales from the Graveyard Shift

by David Goodwin

An odyssey of drive-offs, spiked slurpees, stale sausage rolls and sleep-deprived madness.

Most of us have done our time in the retail trenches, but service stations are undoubtedly the frontline, as Melburnian David Goodwin found out when he started working the weekend graveyard shift at his local servo.

From his very first night shift, David absorbed a consistent level of mind-bending lunacy, encountering everything from giant shoplifting bees and balaclava-clad goons hurling cordial-filled water bombs from the sunroof of their BMW, to anarcho-goths high on MDMA releasing large rats into the store from their matching Harry Potter backpacks.

Over the years, David grew to love his mad servo, handing out free pies and chocolate bars on the sly as he grew a backbone and became street smart. Amidst the unrelenting chaos, he eventually made it out of the servo circus — and lived to tell the tale.

For anyone who's ever toiled under the unforgiving fluorescent lights of a customer service job, SERVO is a side-splitting and darkly mesmeric coming-of-age story from behind the anti-jump wire that will have you gritting your teeth, then cackling at the absurdity, idiocy and utterly beguiling strangeness of those who only come out at night.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Australia, Autobiography, Humor, Audiobook

327 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 28, 2024

About the author

David Goodwin survived weekend graveyards in servos for several interminable years: way too long to stay anything approaching sane, but it gave him a delightfully unhinged memoir detailing all of the looping chaos.

He is, thankfully, no longer a day-sleeper with a halogen tan, but still maintains a ruinous predilection for slurpees, chocolate Big Ms and sausage rolls with too much tomato sauce.

His work has been published in The Guardian, The Age, afl.com.au and various online publications and literary journals. He holds a Dual Advanced Diploma in Advertising and Marketing and, these days, revels in having a somewhat normal circadian rhythm.

Reviews

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worked part time in a servo (gas station for US readers) during my last year or so of high school. I got the job because I spent hours there after school and on the weekend hanging out with my boyfriend (now husband) who worked there part time while he was at university. It was the very early 90’s, and it was still an actual service station in that we were supposed to offer to fill the tank, check the oil, and clean the windscreen of our customers when there was two of us on shift. In practice we only did this for patrons of a certain age and/or socioeconomic bracket, or those that insisted. We were busy, being on a main road, but we were also one of several a few hundred meters apart in a fairly affluent suburb, and though we had an on-site mechanic and a car wash, our shop was small offering little more than the basics - cold drinks, ice creams, cigarettes, newspapers and snacks. That’s not to say we didn’t attract drama. As in any retail job, customers ranged from the indifferent, to the weird, to the hostile. There was a popular pub and drive thru across the road and we had more than one drunk stumble in, especially on the weekends when we were open until midnight. The occasional brawl broke out on the forecourt, a handful of drive-offs, and there was at least one attempted hold up (not on my shift thankfully). Most memorably for me, during a petrol shortage with cars queuing down the street, anger and desperation resulted in a man becoming pinned between two cars at the bowser, that was a hell of a day.

All this is to say that David Goodwin’s memoir, Servo, sent me wandering down memory lane. My experience wasn’t near as fraught as his own, it certainly didn’t trigger an existential crisis, a drawn out drug binge, or stomach ulcers, but there was a lot about his job I could personally relate to. Anyone with retail experience however will likely be familiar with many of the situations David finds himself in.

I found myself nodding in recognition as Goodwin described the mundane routines of his job, and I often laughed out loud at the idiosyncrasies of his colleagues and customers. The sheer lunacy of the ‘gumbleton’s’ David regularly encounters is quite something, but I believed every word. People are strange, especially those that wander into servo’s in the small hours.

Servo is also in part the story of David’s coming-of-age from a shy, sheltered young adult to someone more confident and streetwise. The job took its toll both physically and mentally on him however, and he confesses the ways in which he tried to cope with its stresses.

The writing is articulate and animated, and Goodwin relates his experience in a personable, confiding tone. His descriptions, especially of the people he encounters, are vivid and memorable.

Told with humour, pathos and candour, I found Servo to be a highly entertaining read. Remember to offer the console operator a friendly smile next time you pay for your petrol.

[Sheree | Keeping Up With The Penguins · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I appreciated most about Servo was the new perspective Goodwin offers on the humble service station, a utilitarian venue frequented by people from all walks of life at some point or another. You’ll come to this book for the freaks and the weirdos, but you’ll stay for the window into the world at night and the stories of the comrades who staff it.

My full review of Servo is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

It reads like a first year, first semester creative writing assignment. I made it 100 pages before I gave up, as every page is pretty much a repeat of the last.

Shame, it seemed like an awesome premise.

[Paul Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funniest book I've read in ages, but also has quite a bit of depth to it as well. Think sex, drugs and sausage rolls, with a few pinches of spirituality, but somehow it all works brilliantly.

[Wendy Vitols · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing - an original...and highly engaging - postcard from the graveyard shift. I absolutely loved this!

[Damien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel some of the other reviews here are perhaps overly harsh (although each to their own, of course). Yes, the author clearly likes a metaphor - some of them perhaps tortured. However I still thoroughly enjoyed this book - I actually laughed out loud (actuaLOLed?) more than once. I found his style to be authentic and engaging. Highly recommended.

[Meredith K · Rating 5 out of 5]

The awesome Servo cover and blurb hooked me in, and I'm delighted to report it sure delivered!

Having worked a few lowly paid, underappreciated service jobs, in my younger years, I felt a strong affinity with the author, as I followed his journey from a wide-eyed nervous newbie to a savvy street-smart console operator.

What I particularly loved about Servo is the voice. I've often discarded books whose authors may have had a good story but just didn't know how to tell it. Goodwin not only tells his story with humour, pathos, and elan, but with an authenticity that burns through the pages, and keeps you avidly reading.

I laughed out loud so many times, totally immersed as if a witness to the crazy parade of characters that inhabited the Servo. We've all been stuck in line to pay for fuel, pissed off at the price increase, in a hurry to get to work, forgetting our pump number, only to be pestered to buy two Snickers bars for $5 by the weary, stressed guy or girl behind the counter. David shows us the other side, the crazy, sometimes sad, often funny, occasionally frightening view from behind that service counter.

But this is so much more than just a book about a Servo.
David takes us along on his journey of growing up, a true journey of head and heart.

Goodwin is a master storyteller, and I'm surprised to see this is his first book.
I can't wait to read more from this author!

[Suzie_b_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have all been to Service Stations too many times to count, so I was intrigued by this biography to get into the guts of what it is like to work in one. Working in Melbourne, David really gets to see the worst and the strangest of people in his role as an attendant in the graveyard shift. Even though I work in customer service, I was appalled at the way he was treated by many people and also how much he was exploited by his employers. Through all of this though, the book generated many laughs with some quirky people visiting the servo, as well as a deep respect for these attendants and what they encounter each day.

[Denny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written, funny book. Had me hooked from the beginning, it’s incredible how many stories you can get from the mundane. Well worth a read.

[Jason McCracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who works in a servo in the meth capital of Tasmania, I can confirm that this book is 100% accurate. In fact, this dudes interactions with the public are actually quite tame.

[Rin Dawson · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF, made it about 70 pages, feels like he just pulled out his thesaurus for every 2nd word. a couple of weeks later I listened to an interview with Goodwin and he sounds insanely pretentious and I was just eye rolling the entire time.. I feel like this shows up in his righting massively..

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great easy read, some fun stories about nights in a servo.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true story about working in a servo at night and the interesting characters that visited the servo and stories about events that happened there.
Also how it affected his physical and mental health.

[Ally Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be sold in every Servo. Or offered free with the latest $5 promo. Want two king sized cherry ripes? Take home a concoction of Hunter S Thompson, George Orwell and Bangladeshi Buddhism rolled up on the roundabout of a bogan Melbourne service station.

Not only did these stories of late-night customers and fellow workmates make me cackle out loud, there was one story of a particular prophylactic that made me cackle and cry at the same time.

David Ireland in his famous books The Glass Canoe and The Unknown Industrial Prisoner described the Australian men of the 60s and 70s in their revved up cars and holding their dream laden pints. Men who acted like they owned the roads because they knew they would never own anything else.

This book captures the spectres who own the servos from midnight to dawn. All the ghouls, from the drunks to the psychos to the tradies to the trippy clubbers to the desperate to the homeless, who swarm like moths to the halogen lights and petro mists. Because that pulsating servo in the dark and hostile world is the only thing, for a few minutes or more, they can ever call their own.

One day when the bowser is gone and cars are plugged in and people kept in their shelters with every need non-humanly met, this book will continue to capture a brief moment in history. A moment in which all of humanity habitually converges on a single point to satiate their Gods. Their Gods of caffeine and sugar, petrochemicals and porn.

Luckily for us, one of our number, bleary-eyed behind the console and anti-jump protection wire, picked up a pen and looked – most of the time - kindly on. And when he wasn’t so kindly, we too, can understand the reason for that metal pipe.

[Izzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Goodwin has an incredible voice and I enjoyed the poetic way his words brought to life the stories he's lived. Particularly enjoyable as an Aussie.

I did partially listen to this and the narration by Barton Welch was very good. I love his Aussie accents, and he really built on this with his various other accents. Some of his female characters all sound the same though.

Stars: 5/5
Narration: 4/5

[Ben Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book! I hope Goodwin publishes more prose. If you're into plot and dislike lots of wild adjectives, this is not the book for you.

It is true that while it is based around crazy servo customer antics, Goodwin offers plenty of insight through his customers' and his own story into the modern world of work and consumption, and so much more.

He is a fine writer and very well read, and it is a snapshot of the 2000s underbelly as well a roiling good time. #100Proof

[Michelle Keyatta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious book! Really enjoyed it!

[Anneliese · Rating 5 out of 5]

A completely absurd wild ride that swerved between and teetered on the edge of both madness and spiritual awakening

[Jeff Halliwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never laughed so much

[Sara Bannister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Servo is an important notice non-fiction book. Many books that come out in Australia are about (and written by) people who have never had to work the type of job, and hours, that David Goodwin has. I see it all the time when I browse the bookshelves, especially in fiction. Stories about people who don't need to work, who never mention money because that particular universal struggle has been solved for them. I have often asked - where are the books about, and written by, people who work, and I mean really work. Physical work, on low pay, in tough conditions, without a single hand-out or hand-up to help them. We need to hear from them, not the endless stream of ... I won't go there. Let's focus on David Goodwin's Servo. Finally, a true western suburbs working class story, written by a young man who lived it. It's refreshing to say the least to read a story based entirely in a Werribee servo because that, my friends, is where you'll see some real shit happening - and you all need to know about it. This book holds up one glorious, but disturbing mirror to our society, especially in Melbourne. We all go to servos. I bet we never give the workers a second thought. We - all of us - are Servo. Driving petrol-guzzlers, eating sugary crap, looking down on workers in jobs we've been lucky enough to avoid or escape. Goodwin has done a brilliant job of documenting the customers, their dialogue and the minute details of the servo job, and turning it into a memoir, something I myself never thought to do based on my 18 mths at a servo in my late teens. So much here rings true - the customers off their heads, the verbal abuse and disrespect, and even worse, the thoughtless, bullying behaviour of management, especially the ones higher up. I saw it all, though I never did nightshift so I didn't cop it quite as bad, thank god. But what really moved me was the way in which this job started to send Goodwin on a downward spiral into despair, drugs. He started losing himself, and that is the greatest indictment I've ever seen of the dehumanising effects of servo work. Certainly, management exploit these workers but the customers don't get off the hook. Their attitude and treatment of Goodwin and his colleagues, so clearly described in this book, will make many hang their heads in shame. What is wrong with people? Why do we treat retail workers like this? Goodwin doesn't preach at all. His writing is warm, and very, very funny. But I came away from the book a little angry at how he and others (and myself) were treated working in these jobs. I say this book is compulsory reading for anyone with a driver's licence, making them reflect on how they view and treat the man or woman behind the console.

[Lewis Woolston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't want to sound overly harsh, this was not a bad book, it's just....I read it 30 years ago. Back then it was called "He Died With a Felafel in his Hand" by John Birmingham. It was a hilarious cult classic of the 90's that got made into a film. It was a reference point for many of us Gen Xers.
And this book is attempting to do the same thing, even down to the style and tone of the thing.
So basically the "plot" is young guy, not really doing too great in life, gets a job at a Servo (Gas Station for you Americans) because it's a job and he can't really get anything better.
He becomes a night shift zombie dealing with all manner of freaks and weirdos. Much hilarity ensues.
And to be fair it is quite funny in parts.
It's just...i had these kind of laughs 30 years with Birmingham's book.
Still, if you want a funny, easy read, something not very serious and good for a few chuckles, this is probably right up your alley.

[Kim Rigby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, how I enjoyed dipping into this book!
David Goodwin’s Servo is a brilliant and funny coming-of-age memoir detailing a six-year period of David’s life as he worked the graveyard shift at a service station in Werribee, Victoria. I lived near Werribee during the time David wrote about, and it was both a blast from the past and a trip down memory lane for me.
David’s writing is eloquent, his descriptions Olympic gold medal worthy, as evidenced by his detail on the cappuccino-coloured Moby: ‘50 per cent human, 30 per cent dog and about 20 per cent cat, give or take.’ I also particularly liked the idea of a ‘morose lunch’.
Colourful, irreverent, and a perfect microcosm of Australiana and all its quirkiness, Servo is an upbeat jaunt through the early Noughties that is wonderfully entertaining. Highly recommended.

[Leggs LaRoux · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a freakishly refreshing insight into the nocturnal underworld of Australia. I absolutely loved it. It’s part coming-of-age story, part Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In the beginning, I wondered if the author would find a coherent storyline or if the book would devolve into a series of interesting but disjointed vignettes. Very quickly though, I found myself cheering on the author as he made his way through service industry hell. The ending was very satisfying as it culminated in the kind of personal growth that only comes from suffering through the most absurd and unexpected circumstances.

I would recommend this book for anyone who thinks their job sucks (whether retail or not) and for those who appreciate that all the weirdos out there actually make the world a more interesting place to live.

[William Jeffries · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me hook, line and sinker from beginning to end. David Goodwin takes us on journey into the wild world of a late night servo employee and the other worldly characters he encountered nightly. Poetic, profound and hilarious are a few words that sum up this book well. Do yourself a favour and get your hands on this page turner ASAP!

[Stephen Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good insight to a shitty industry and a fun read along the way.

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much in the vein of "He Died With A Felafel In His Hand", albeit with a different, but equally insane, locus of Australian life. If you enjoyed that book, you'll likely enjoy this one.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A filthy, fun and poignant tour of the late night. Larger than life at times, but always intelligently written and human. It’s a ghost train worth buying a ticket for.

[Imran Abbas · Rating 5 out of 5]

must read for any aussie out there who has been to a servo in the middle of the night

[Arielle Joss · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The premise was great.
But the constant description of mentally ill/ addicted people as "freaks" and treating them like objects to be studied was exhausting - especially from the perspective of someone who had the privilege to leave that industry at any time.
The author didn't take the time to try and understand or sympathise with why people were in the situations that they were in, and it felt exploitative for that reason. I've worked in customer service so I get how some people can treat you terribly and some people leave you with hilarious stories. But it's one thing telling a funny story about your customer service interactions to your friends to get out your frustration but idk, I felt icky reading it

[Damian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I most definitely cannot go back into a Service Station with such haste ever again ! The protagonist gives a wonderful insight the life of a Gas Station attendant…. So much more than standing behind the counter with a forced welcome . Really enjoyed his style of writing .