Stuck At A Gas Station: Don't Let This Happen To You

It was a dark, rainy night. I was racing on the highway to meet my friend for dinner. Looking down at the gas gage, the needle hit Empty. I pulled off the highway at the next gas station, handed my debit card to the gas attendant, and asked for a full tank of gas. It was costly, but much needed. The gas pump finally stopped at $40 with a little over 10 gallons of gas. "Hmmm...not as much as I thought it would be."
The gas attendant took out the card and closed up the gas tank. He went over to his superviser who tried sliding the debit card through the machine. The supervisor walked towards me and said, "There's a problem. Your card's not working."
"That's impossible! I just made a $200 deposit in my bank this morning. The check should of cleared."
The man just stared at me like I had planned to drive away without paying for the gas. I'm a kid. I look like I'm 12 years old, so this was a look I had seen before. "I'll call my parents and get the money here."
Knowing that my dad had a credit card, I called him first. My mom answered the phone. "Mom, I have a problem. Where's dad?"
"He's not here."
"I'm stuck at the gas station. They won't let me leave until I pay and my debit card isn't working."
Well, my mom said she'd try to find the credit card, but she couldn't find it. So, I called my brother and sister in law, both phones were off. I called the friend I was supposed to meet. Her phone was dead.
Great. I was stuck at a gas station with no money.
"Oh my God! I can't believe this!!" The supervisor looked at me and went, "Is there a problem?" Of course there was a problem! I had no money. I was stuck at a highway gas station late at night and no one could come and help me.
The man started taking down my car's information, debit card number, and I was pretty sure he would call the cops on me. He handed me a piece of paper with his phone number on it and asked for mine. He explained that he would try putting the card in the morning. If it went through, he'd call me. If it didn't, I would have to bring the cash.
I was so grateful to get out of there.
When I got home, I got a lecture on keeping more money in my checking account, but once I explained about depositing my check early that morning, my parents stopped lecturing. There was a deeper problem.
I called my bank this morning. I said, "I have a problem with my account. I deposited $200 yesterday at 8:30 AM. I was the first transaction made at the bank. There is no reason why the check shouldn't have cleared. According to federal law, payroll checks are like cash and are deposited immediately."
The lady told me, "Tellers here are trained so if they don't recognize the payroll as a big company, such as Walmart or Target, then we hold the check for a day."
Boy, did I go off on her. I work 42 hours a week to earn that money and I can't have it? You have got to be kidding me.
She continued to tell me that $100 would be cleared today and the rest tomorrow. Why split it up? Put the full amount in! I told her about all the trouble she costed me and she told me that ,"sorry, it's bank policy. It's located on page 12 of the white pamplet you got when you first got an account with us."
My dad called up furious with them. How does bank policy over ride federal law? I'm pulling my money out of there and changing banks.