It blew my mind when I arrived at Homestead AFB in ‘82 and encountered gas stations that were just that way. There was a 7-11 outside the gate that just locked the doors after dark. The cashier was in the cooler watching TV. We’d beat on the door until he came out to look us over.
I don’t remember a 7-11, but there was a Circle-K there when I was there..
One time a black man stabbed his pregnant gf in the Circle-K parking lot and no one was helping the victim. One of the SPs at the gate post ran over to assist, then got in a lot of trouble for leaving his post (he saved her life).