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Backward people of Oregon complain about self-serve gas stations.

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Ray9

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Social media sites are on fire with ridicule for the people of Oregon complaining about self-serve gas stations allowed in the state under a new law that had prohibited them.

The other day it was -3 in New Hampshire with a 17-mile-an-hour wind on the highway where a busy convenience store is located. I got out of my car and quickly zipped up my jacket while I cursed myself for not wearing gloves. My numb fingers fumbled to get my wallet and choose a credit card. I stood in the biting gale facing a gas pump with a small screen on its face that began barking advertisements for everything from winter gadgets to TV programs.

I slid the credit card into a slot and then just as my eyes were starting to freeze shut I had to answer several questions about how I wanted to use the card by operating a touch screen with my now frostbitten fingers.As my nose started turning blue I had to take an IQ test and remember the pin number that went with card I chose to use. At this point the biological phenomenon of shivering had begun to set in while the miracle of modern technology worked its magic telling me my card was approved. The ordeal was just beginning.

Now I had to choose which grade of fuel I wanted by aiming my blood-drained hand at one of the buttons and watching a light come on. At this worrying moment the pure white digits on the ends of my hands had become sausages and it was a struggle to get the little door open on the side of the car to get to the gas cap. In the extreme chill my wrists had lost the ability to swivel and I had to use two hands to unscrew it.

Now at long last I reached for the gas nozzle and with my last bit of strength, slid it into the car. I fantasized about the olden days while the gas was pumping. As I began to freeze like a statue I thought about the 1950’s in the passenger seat of my dad’s car.

He’d pull into a gas station and an attendant would come right out. Dad never asked for more than three-dollars-worth and the attendant would always wash the windshield and ask if he wanted the oil checked. Dad never had to get out of the car to brave the wind.

Those people in Oregon are living in the past.

They’re idiots-right?
 
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Yep, the snowflakes will now have to operate a gas pump, expose themselves to the weather and their own dirty vehicle, step in the stuff that folks dump in the parking area and abide the terrible fumes. Life is tougher on the Oregon trail now.
 
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Ray9 said:
Social media sites are on fire with ridicule for the people of Oregon complaining about self-serve gas stations allowed in the state under a new law that had prohibited them.

The other day it was -3 in New Hampshire with a 17-mile-an-hour wind on the highway where a busy convenience store is located. I got out of my car and quickly zipped up my jacket while I cursed myself for not wearing gloves. My numb fingers fumbled to get my wallet and choose a credit card. I stood in the biting gale facing a gas pump with a small screen on its face that began barking advertisements for everything from winter gadgets to TV programs.

I slid the credit card into a slot and then just as my eyes were starting to freeze shut I had to answer several questions about how I wanted to use the card by operating a touch screen with my now frostbitten fingers.As my nose started turning blue I had to take an IQ test and remember the pin number that went with card I chose to use. At this point the biological phenomenon of shivering had begun to set in while the miracle of modern technology worked its magic telling me my card was approved. The ordeal was just beginning.

Now I had to choose which grade of fuel I wanted by aiming my blood-drained hand at one of the buttons and watching a light come on. At this worrying moment the pure white digits on the ends of my hands had become sausages and it was a struggle to get the little door open on the side of the car to get to the gas cap. In the extreme chill my wrists had lost the ability to swivel and I had to use two hands to unscrew it.

Now at long last I reached for the gas nozzle and with my last bit of strength, slid it into the car. I fantasized about the olden days while the gas was pumping. As I began to freeze like a statue I thought about the 1950’s in the passenger seat of my dad’s car.

He’d pull into a gas station and an attendant would come right out. Dad never asked for more than three-dollars-worth and the attendant would always wash the windshield and ask if he wanted the oil checked. Dad never had to get out of the car to brave the wind.

Those people in Oregon are living in the past.

They’re idiots-right?
Click to expand...

One reason why gas costs more in Oregon.

In your case, you could probably pay someone to take your car and get gas for you. It would probably even out in the long run.
 
You have died of gas-pumping.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Yep, the snowflakes will now have to operate a gas pump, expose themselves to the weather and their own dirty vehicle, step in the stuff that folks dump in the parking area and abide the terrible fumes. Life is tougher on the Oregon trail now.
Click to expand...

Hold your horses here a moment. I can foresee some problems that haven't previously existed in Oregon. Certain women, and men, who don't know where the gas nozzle from the pump goes, and now more videos on youtube of people driving off from gas stations with the nozzle and hose dangling from their cars. Ugly and uglier. :)

To my daughter:

"You know the clutch?"

"Yes."

"What does the clutch do?"

"It clutches."

"Ok, we'll use mom's car, it's an automatic."

"Automatic what?"

She never did learn how to drive a stick. Today I hear, "I point it, step on that thing next to the brake, and it goes where I point it." She's 43.

God help Oregon.
 
Ray9 said:
Social media sites are on fire with ridicule for the people of Oregon complaining about self-serve gas stations allowed in the state under a new law that had prohibited them.

The other day it was -3 in New Hampshire with a 17-mile-an-hour wind on the highway where a busy convenience store is located. I got out of my car and quickly zipped up my jacket while I cursed myself for not wearing gloves. My numb fingers fumbled to get my wallet and choose a credit card. I stood in the biting gale facing a gas pump with a small screen on its face that began barking advertisements for everything from winter gadgets to TV programs.

I slid the credit card into a slot and then just as my eyes were starting to freeze shut I had to answer several questions about how I wanted to use the card by operating a touch screen with my now frostbitten fingers.As my nose started turning blue I had to take an IQ test and remember the pin number that went with card I chose to use. At this point the biological phenomenon of shivering had begun to set in while the miracle of modern technology worked its magic telling me my card was approved. The ordeal was just beginning.

Now I had to choose which grade of fuel I wanted by aiming my blood-drained hand at one of the buttons and watching a light come on. At this worrying moment the pure white digits on the ends of my hands had become sausages and it was a struggle to get the little door open on the side of the car to get to the gas cap. In the extreme chill my wrists had lost the ability to swivel and I had to use two hands to unscrew it.

Now at long last I reached for the gas nozzle and with my last bit of strength, slid it into the car. I fantasized about the olden days while the gas was pumping. As I began to freeze like a statue I thought about the 1950’s in the passenger seat of my dad’s car.

He’d pull into a gas station and an attendant would come right out. Dad never asked for more than three-dollars-worth and the attendant would always wash the windshield and ask if he wanted the oil checked. Dad never had to get out of the car to brave the wind.

Those people in Oregon are living in the past.

They’re idiots-right?
Click to expand...

In the UK when self serve came out, decades ago, many boycotted them as they took a persons job away.
Same as banks want you to use the machine vice the teller. I always go to the teller, and when they say, as they are required to, you can use the machine, I inform them I am saving a persons job.
 
Well, I guess my humor is lost here. Maybe it's my age. I still remember full service gas stations where there were actually people inside that knew something about cars. I wouldn't mind paying five cents more to have an attendant brave the elements.
 
Ray9 said:
Social media sites are on fire with ridicule for the people of Oregon complaining about self-serve gas stations allowed in the state under a new law that had prohibited them.

The other day it was -3 in New Hampshire with a 17-mile-an-hour wind on the highway where a busy convenience store is located. I got out of my car and quickly zipped up my jacket while I cursed myself for not wearing gloves. My numb fingers fumbled to get my wallet and choose a credit card. I stood in the biting gale facing a gas pump with a small screen on its face that began barking advertisements for everything from winter gadgets to TV programs.

I slid the credit card into a slot and then just as my eyes were starting to freeze shut I had to answer several questions about how I wanted to use the card by operating a touch screen with my now frostbitten fingers.As my nose started turning blue I had to take an IQ test and remember the pin number that went with card I chose to use. At this point the biological phenomenon of shivering had begun to set in while the miracle of modern technology worked its magic telling me my card was approved. The ordeal was just beginning.

Now I had to choose which grade of fuel I wanted by aiming my blood-drained hand at one of the buttons and watching a light come on. At this worrying moment the pure white digits on the ends of my hands had become sausages and it was a struggle to get the little door open on the side of the car to get to the gas cap. In the extreme chill my wrists had lost the ability to swivel and I had to use two hands to unscrew it.

Now at long last I reached for the gas nozzle and with my last bit of strength, slid it into the car. I fantasized about the olden days while the gas was pumping. As I began to freeze like a statue I thought about the 1950’s in the passenger seat of my dad’s car.

He’d pull into a gas station and an attendant would come right out. Dad never asked for more than three-dollars-worth and the attendant would always wash the windshield and ask if he wanted the oil checked. Dad never had to get out of the car to brave the wind.

Those people in Oregon are living in the past.

They’re idiots-right?
Click to expand...



If I may...

I first traveled to Oregon around 1979 or 80 and they had the policy then. I went to tank up, and a voice told me it's against the law. The rationale has NOTHING to do with jobs, but rather safety. The reason I was given is that gasoline is a highly volatile substance and in any other setting you would need a license. Since then I paid attention when I'm at the pump to see how much gas is spilled by other motorists......

I suggest a case can be made simply based on waste.
 
Fearandloathing said:
If I may...

I first traveled to Oregon around 1979 or 80 and they had the policy then. I went to tank up, and a voice told me it's against the law. The rationale has NOTHING to do with jobs, but rather safety. The reason I was given is that gasoline is a highly volatile substance and in any other setting you would need a license. Since then I paid attention when I'm at the pump to see how much gas is spilled by other motorists......

I suggest a case can be made simply based on waste.
Click to expand...

Except it really can't, when the long-time experience of 48 other states and, really, most of the rest of the world, says problems are infinitesimal.
 
Ray9 said:
Well, I guess my humor is lost here. Maybe it's my age. I still remember full service gas stations where there were actually people inside that knew something about cars. I wouldn't mind paying five cents more to have an attendant brave the elements.
Click to expand...

I'm with you. Happily live where stations require an attendant. Because all the stations require an attendant there is no increase in the cost of gas.
 
Harshaw said:
Except it really can't, when the long-time experience of 48 other states and, really, most of the rest of the world, says problems are infinitesimal.
Click to expand...

I've heard there is a problem of thievery....people sneaking up on the other side of the car while you're busy at the pump...there is even a name for this which I can't recall at the moment.
 
I pumped gas as a part time job here in Jersey at 15, 14 if you count working under my brothers name. No training, just here, squeeze the handle.

Personally I don't mind letting someone eels pump my gas most of the time, but it sucks when I'm filling the boat and the attendant has to pump 50 gals into 5 gal jugs! I'd just as soon do it myself and free him up to help others.
 
People resist change, that is all. While I am old enough to remember full-service gas stations, by the time I was old enough to drive self-serve was the norm. So it is what I am used to.

This past summer I spent a couple months camping out in the national forests of Oregon. And the full-service stations got on my freaking nerve. You had to wait in line and sometimes they made you get out and type your pin number into the pump keyboard anyway. And you couldn't just pull into whatever spot was empty, you had to get in the proper line. Small things but annoying when you are accustomed to doing things yourself. I am sure the switch to self-serve will be annoying for folks accustomed to full-service.
 
Two things.
First, I remember when we had, I think, a 58 or 59 olds. It had these raised fins with the tailights in the ends. The gas filler was in a fin under a hatch that just flipped open. Mom liked going to stations and watching in amusement as the teenage attendant walked around the back of the car pulling on things trying to figure out how to put gas in it.
Second. At a self serve in about 1996, I was just about to tell a guy he shouldn't try to fill that can while it's in the bed of his truck, when he set his truck on fire.
I watched people at the corner store put gasoline in gallon water jugs while smoking. We were prepping for the hurricane last year.
It is a miracle the place doesn't burn down at least annually.
 
Ray9 said:
Well, I guess my humor is lost here. Maybe it's my age. I still remember full service gas stations where there were actually people inside that knew something about cars. I wouldn't mind paying five cents more to have an attendant brave the elements.
Click to expand...

I hope you tipped the gas jockeys at least 15%. My dad was a cheap SOB, he only gave them a quarter, no matter how much he paid for the gas. :)
 
Honestly I think these guys are overreacting a bit. It's not too big of a deal.
 
I don't blame the Oregonians. They were living in my dad's golden age and don't want to let it go. It's hard to see it as progress. It's almost like going to a restaurant and being handed frozen food that you cook yourself in a microwave. People might get used to that but it's probably not an improvement. I hope I don't give anyone any ideas.
 
I've actually never had anyone fill up my car for me, I've always done it myself. I can't even recall going to a fuel station where it was an option for someone on the staff to do it for you. Once I got my drivers licence, before I was allowed to even drive on my own, I had to know how to change a tyre, check the water and oil and know how to put fuel in myself.
 
Ray9 said:
Social media sites are on fire with ridicule for the people of Oregon complaining about self-serve gas stations allowed in the state under a new law that had prohibited them.

The other day it was -3 in New Hampshire with a 17-mile-an-hour wind on the highway where a busy convenience store is located. I got out of my car and quickly zipped up my jacket while I cursed myself for not wearing gloves. My numb fingers fumbled to get my wallet and choose a credit card. I stood in the biting gale facing a gas pump with a small screen on its face that began barking advertisements for everything from winter gadgets to TV programs.

I slid the credit card into a slot and then just as my eyes were starting to freeze shut I had to answer several questions about how I wanted to use the card by operating a touch screen with my now frostbitten fingers.As my nose started turning blue I had to take an IQ test and remember the pin number that went with card I chose to use. At this point the biological phenomenon of shivering had begun to set in while the miracle of modern technology worked its magic telling me my card was approved. The ordeal was just beginning.

Now I had to choose which grade of fuel I wanted by aiming my blood-drained hand at one of the buttons and watching a light come on. At this worrying moment the pure white digits on the ends of my hands had become sausages and it was a struggle to get the little door open on the side of the car to get to the gas cap. In the extreme chill my wrists had lost the ability to swivel and I had to use two hands to unscrew it.

Now at long last I reached for the gas nozzle and with my last bit of strength, slid it into the car. I fantasized about the olden days while the gas was pumping. As I began to freeze like a statue I thought about the 1950’s in the passenger seat of my dad’s car.

He’d pull into a gas station and an attendant would come right out. Dad never asked for more than three-dollars-worth and the attendant would always wash the windshield and ask if he wanted the oil checked. Dad never had to get out of the car to brave the wind.

Those people in Oregon are living in the past.

They’re idiots-right?
Click to expand...

The old law meant - jobs - and customers didn't have to get out and shlep the gas pump. It was very nice. Guy up there some years ago said it meant some 20,000 jobs for the state; now all those are going to go away and the price of gas will just go up.
 
Skeptic Bob said:
People resist change, that is all. While I am old enough to remember full-service gas stations, by the time I was old enough to drive self-serve was the norm. So it is what I am used to.

This past summer I spent a couple months camping out in the national forests of Oregon. And the full-service stations got on my freaking nerve. You had to wait in line and sometimes they made you get out and type your pin number into the pump keyboard anyway. And you couldn't just pull into whatever spot was empty, you had to get in the proper line. Small things but annoying when you are accustomed to doing things yourself. I am sure the switch to self-serve will be annoying for folks accustomed to full-service.
Click to expand...

My first job, at age 15, was at a full-service gas station.

My kids can't relate. :lol:
 
This gas pump issue is so bizarre... There's only one gas station that I know of that is full serve anymore, and I hate going there, because I feel completely uncomfortable letting someone do something I should be doing myself. And I live in Canada, we're one of the countries that actually gets to say the word "Cold" with authority...hehe... If you can't pump your own gas, you shouldn't have a car...I'm not mechanic, not by a long shot, but a bit of basic understanding about how your car works and how to keep up with basic maintenance should be a prerequisite to owning one, in my opinion.

Seriously, are people actually worked up about this? I can see the jobs aspect, but beyond that? I must be missing something........
 
jet57 said:
The old law meant - jobs - and customers didn't have to get out and shlep the gas pump. It was very nice. Guy up there some years ago said it meant some 20,000 jobs for the state; now all those are going to go away and the price of gas will just go up.
Click to expand...
Why will the price go up?

I would think that it would go down since it no longer includes the cost of an attendant's wages.
 
USViking said:
Why will the price go up?

I would think that it would go down since it no longer includes the cost of an attendant's wages.
Click to expand...

Gas always goes up. I've a family member who knows an oil executive and he and the exec were chatting about pricing. The exec told him that prices are based on whatever the market will bear, nothing more than that really. You'll note that in depressed areas the prices are lower, in richer areas the prices are higher. Oregon had a real good thing goin in my view and the stations were really great: old school customer service. Now their just going to be "profit centers".
 
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