Growing up there was a mom and pop service station in our neighborhood that offered a full service option but we never used it. I’ve had one experience with someone pumping my gas (NJ) and felt so awkward I’d be happy to never do it again.
I went to high school with a girl whose father forbid her from pumping her own gas because it wasn’t ladylike. He was fun.
We drive to Maine every other summer and I hate driving on the jersey turnpike and having someone pump my gas. It’s so awkward.
Add to that the insanely crowded rest stops and the inability to stop anywhere but the designated rest stops and Jersey becomes my least favorite state to drive through.
I just wanted a coffee last time we drove through, but had to wait 20 minutes for Starbucks because no other place sold coffee. I didn’t care what coffee I drank, just wanted to get something quick. It was so annoying.
I had never pumped my own gas until I moved from OR to CA at 18. I wish this were state-wide. Now I'm back in Oregon and I hate waiting for the attendant to come over to my car.
I'd love to not have to pump my own gas...... but I am probably not the best person to ask about this, my car is close to zero gas because I didn't want to fill up when the temp was in the single digits this morning.
Post by imojoebunny on Jan 3, 2018 17:00:43 GMT -5
DH and I were so confused when we went to OR, stopped to get gas, and some man came up to the car, and started getting mad at us for trying to pump the gas ourselves. I think it would be nice sometimes, like today, when it is cold, but unlike grocery store self checkout, which is a lot of extra trouble when you have a weeks worth of groceries, pumping your gas is pretty easy, and not worth the hassle of having to wait on an attendant.
I’ll take NH. You can pump your own gas, which I prefer, but you can set the nozzle and then get back in your warm car. Best of all worlds.
I was always told to never get back into a vehicle while pumping gas. It can build up static electricity and could spark an explosion. Anyone else ever heard of this?
I've been living on the edge for 20 years apparently.
Where I learned to drive, there were self-serve and full serve stations. And some with both, but a higher price on the places that were full-serve. And you bet I was willing to pay a bit extra for full serve in the middle of winter! Even as a poor-ass college student.
I do remember the first time I had to fill up my parent's newer car after I got my license. I went to a self-serve place, and myself and my two buddies in the car couldn't figure out how to open the gas tank cover. (that flap that sits flush with the car...) The older car I had been used to driving you pushed in, and it clicked out, and then you could unscrew the gas cap. The new car didn't work like that. All three of us spent 5-10 minutes trying to figure out how to open the damn flap, and finally gave up and went to a full serve station where I owned up to being an idiot and asking the attendant that pumped my gas how the heck to open it.
Turns out there was a thing inside the car I had to pull to open it.
I felt _so_ stupid. The memory has stuck for over 2 decades, stupid. But, thank god for full service stations, because we probably would have wasted another hour trying to figure it out. (we were doing something at odd hours, and it was before cell phones were a thing, so calling someone wasn't an option, and we were all too new to driving to realize the owners manual would probably have told us exactly what we needed to know)
Can you not do this everywhere? (Obviously with the exception of Oregon and New Jersey)
Not in MA. They remove the little nozzle setter.
THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH.
I grew up in Massachusetts. I left and didn't have a car for many years. At various points in my life in other cities, I'd see people do that thing with the nozzle, and then I'd go back to visit my parents at Christmas, drive their car, and then try to figure it out. At some point, I gave up because I just assumed I was an idiot.
H pumps most of our gas, so I never figured out how to do it. Now I feel empowered to try.
As a former Oregonian I've been trying to explain how this a weirdly engrained cultural thing in Oregon to my friends on FB. Since it's illegal to pump your own gas in the state, it's not something you learn unless you got a job as a teenager pumping gas, or until you go out of state and someone teaches you. In my case it was a random stranger at a station in Washington who taught me when I was 21 and traveling out of state alone for the first time. I knew the basic concept of insert nozzle, select grade, pull handle, but I was having issues getting the gas cap off and asked the random guy at the pump next to me for help. He took one look at my Oregon plates and just walked me through the whole thing, and it wasn't a big deal, but like anything that's new it's "scary" at first.
Plus Oregonians take a weird sense of pride in not having to pump their own gas. What started off as a dubious safety measure, and morphed into a job creation idea, then took root as "this is they way things should be" idea.
Personally I hate having to wait for the attendants when I go back to visit family because it's a lot faster to do it myself, but I understand why they like not having to do it themselves. It's kind of like self check-out versus using the cashier at the grocery store IMO, pros and cons to each.
But yes, they absolutely will yell at you for breaking the law and trying to pump your own even if it's busy. It's a $500 fine for pumping your gas illegally, and I imagine the stations might get in trouble too.
My oldest accidentally put diesel in her car when she was 16. Needless to say the car only went about 2 miles before knocking out. Lesson learned.
And growing up we had full service stations and we always tipped. Because they checked your oil and washed your windows as well while the gas was pumping.
People in a FB group I'm in are all "but jobs!" And I'm just like, you don't want to pump your own gas! (Disclaimer, we fill up in NJ more often than not so I take full advantage of full service stations.)
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the rural areas that will enact this either don't have enough employees to offer full service all the hours they are open, or they want to be able to stay open longer with limited staff. Nothing more miserable driving around a rural area with your tank on E and nothing open.
The comments are killing me. "I don't want to smell like gasoline!" What, you think everyone else in every other state goes around smelling like gas? OMFG.
Post by picksthemusic on Jan 3, 2018 18:16:10 GMT -5
Any time we drive to OR and have to fill up for some reason, we always get stopped by the attendants because we're so used to filling up for ourselves. LOL
Oregonian Confession: I'm 30 years old and I've never pumped my own gas. I want to believe I’m smart enough that I could figure out how to do it if I needed to, though.
Plus Oregonians take a weird sense of pride in not having to pump their own gas. What started off as a dubious safety measure, and morphed into a job creation idea, then took root as "this is they way things should be"
I'd add no sales tax to this category too!
H worked at a gas station for years and still made me fill the tank when we went to seattle last year just so i could learn. It's not hard, the instructions are on the pump!
We have stations with both, full service, or no service. If you do full service you are expected to tip, but they also generally top up your fluids and wash your windows. Once they also replaced my broken wiper blade (they asked first and charged for it obviously).
I go for full service about twice a year when I’m feeling particularly baller with cash on hand or when it is super freezing cold outside.
Or when I’m out of gas in the middle of nowhere at my grandparents house where full service is the only option.
Post by chickadee77 on Jan 3, 2018 19:42:28 GMT -5
So, in Oregon and NJ, they have attendants 24/7? This seems so weird to me. I mean, I knew about it (my sister lived in Jersey for awhile), but it just seems weird. There have been so many times I've stopped for gas at night or on a holiday and the station is closed - I'd have been screwed except for the pay-at-pump.
Post by mrs.jacinthe on Jan 3, 2018 19:44:55 GMT -5
I haaaate fueling in Oregon. If it's the middle of the night, you have to drive around until you find an open station. If the station's busy, you wait and wait and wait for the attendant and I'm sitting there behind the wheel staring at the already-shut-off-but-where-the-hell-is-the-attendant nozzle and wondering if I can just finish the transaction before they come back and/or notice.
Also, L-O-Freaking-L at the people who are like "but TRANSIENTS! Safety!" FFS, the other 98% of the country has managed to survive gassing their own cars for decades. You'll probably join that same statistic, sweetie.
Oregonian Confession: I'm 30 years old and I've never pumped my own gas. I want to believe I’m smart enough that I could figure out how to do it if I needed to, though.
For the BARGAIN PRICE of $99.99, I'm willing to offer you my exclusive online "Pump Your Own Gas And Don't Look Like An Idiot While Doing It" course! I'm willing to offer an installment plan, too! ACT TODAY!
I was always told to never get back into a vehicle while pumping gas. It can build up static electricity and could spark an explosion. Anyone else ever heard of this?
Yes, I'm pretty sure I saw a Mythbusters about it too, but I forget the results.
Um, the results are kind of important!
Based on my own experiments of nearly always getting back in the car, I'm not dead yet.
I grew up in NY, but live in NJ now. So i know how, ive done it a million times. But im just used to not having to do it. I dont have particularly strong feelings about it either way, tbh.
Yes, I'm pretty sure I saw a Mythbusters about it too, but I forget the results.
Um, the results are kind of important!
Based on my own experiments of nearly always getting back in the car, I'm not dead yet.
I believe I have experienced why this is a no-no:
My stepmom and I went to a Sam's Club about 10 years ago and pulled up to get gas. It was cold, so I offered to get out and rig up the pump, then got back in the car. We got to chatting and didn't realize we never heard the click of the pump being done... because it never happened. The gas kept pumping until we had a large pool of fuel underneath and around the car.
We had to get out and have people help us push our car forward, past the fuel pool, so we wouldn't start the engine while sitting on a mass of gas. I think the attendant had to call in some special material to absorb the excess gas on the ground, too.
Ever since, I'll always keep my eyes on the pump and the gallons gauge so I know when to expect a click, or when to stop it myself.
I haaaate fueling in Oregon. If it's the middle of the night, you have to drive around until you find an open station. If the station's busy, you wait and wait and wait for the attendant and I'm sitting there behind the wheel staring at the already-shut-off-but-where-the-hell-is-the-attendant nozzle and wondering if I can just finish the transaction before they come back and/or notice.
Also, L-O-Freaking-L at the people who are like "but TRANSIENTS! Safety!" FFS, the other 98% of the country has managed to survive gassing their own cars for decades. You'll probably join that same statistic, sweetie.
Wait, what are the transients doing? I can’t put this together. Pumping your own gas will attract transients?
I haaaate fueling in Oregon. If it's the middle of the night, you have to drive around until you find an open station. If the station's busy, you wait and wait and wait for the attendant and I'm sitting there behind the wheel staring at the already-shut-off-but-where-the-hell-is-the-attendant nozzle and wondering if I can just finish the transaction before they come back and/or notice.
Also, L-O-Freaking-L at the people who are like "but TRANSIENTS! Safety!" FFS, the other 98% of the country has managed to survive gassing their own cars for decades. You'll probably join that same statistic, sweetie.
Wait, what are the transients doing? I can’t put this together. Pumping your own gas will attract transients?
Apparently? There's at least a couple people in the comments complaining that the transients will be a problem if they start pumping their own gas.
As someone who lives in an area with a significant homeless issue, I have no idea WTF the concern is. Maybe that people will start begging at gas stations? (No idea, just guessing.)
This is fascinating! I'd love it if I pulled up and someone pumped my gas. Do you tip?
What about when these people travel? How to they handle it?
I only tip $1 or so if I have it and they go above and beyond, like washing my windshield or giving me directions.
You just pull up and they come to your window. You hand them your card and tell them if you want it filled with regular/diesel/premium/etc, or if you only want $10 worth of gas or whatever. I'm sure if someone had never experienced it before it might be shocking when a guy walks up to your passenger window, but they probably explain how it works to people a lot, especially on the turnpike.
And when stations are pretty full, I don't think they yell at your if you pump your own gas or anything. The only annoying thing about full service is that your tank is often filled and you have to wait a minute or two for the attendant to come over and finish it up because he (almost always men, I've only had a woman a handful of times) is filling other cars.
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Yes, they do. It’s illegal to pump your own gas in NJ.
We drove a windy way to Lafayette College one day, didn’t realize we had crossed back over the Delaware into NJ and my husband got out to pump his own gas. Wooo. That attendant came over sofaking fast yelling at us. We were like “what state are we in?! How did that happen?!”
Don't they teach you how to pump gas in driver's education?
I do remember when I was 16yo and had just gotten my license, I went to a different gas station than usual and couldn't figure out why on earth the gas wouldn't pump. I called my mom and she drove like 3 miles to the gas station to see what was going on and help me (lol, oh Mom) Well, the place I usually went had push button operated pumps...the place I was trying to fill up that day had the pumps that you had to flip up. I had never seen one of those before. Derp.