I have either driven through Oregon frequently, or have lived in the state for thirty-five years, and the inability to pump my own gas has miffed me for the same period of time. Well, that’s changing now.
The normally dysfunctional Oregon state legislature passed a bill to allow drivers to pump their own gas at all gas stations in the state, though some will be required to still have attendants for those who don’t desire to, or can’t, pump themselves. Welcome to the 1970’s, Oregon!
The automotive junkie attorney Steve Lehto did a YouTube segment on this, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnBkhtwj5Wg. if you like stupid human stories that frequently have an automotive bent, check out Steve’s channel. Watching this particular segment reminded me of a few things. First of these was the small black hose that you ran over when entering the pump area that used the air pressure to ring a bell. Remember the ding – ding?
The second thing was the earlier self-service islands that were labeled “mini-service”. You could pay a few cents a gallon less to pump the gas yourself, but don’t expect any ‘service’. If you opted for the “full-service”, you typically got your windshield washed and maybe your oil level and tire pressures checked. You might recall the scene from the first Back to the Future when Marty first goes back to 1955 and observes the service station employees swarming all over a car that’s just pulled in (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY2w2-CAKgM). When I saw Back to the Future in 1985, this one scene told me that I was going to love this movie!
Mini-Service at Full-Service Price
It then occurred to me that what Oregon stations had done was to kill the self-service and neuter the full-service so that it consisted of just filling the tank. No windshield wash, no oil check, no tire pressure check. Just fill the tank. Oh, and continue to charge the “full-service” price!
Years ago I was at an Oregon gas station, trying to keep three kids in reign and happened to see an older woman on crutches wash her own windshield! I couldn’t manage to assist her at that particular time, though I’ve offered assistance to random anonymous people hundreds of times, as you probably have too. I had a field day with the young man who’s choice of career was gas station attendant when I described to him what I had just witnessed and then inquired of him just what his purpose in life was. (Sarcasm can be such a sharp sword, requiring no coarse language at all!)
You’re asking for a tip why …?
As a final exclamation point on all the weird crap that’s going on, if I fill my tank myself, I don’t have to worry about whether to tip the guy or not! I hate that tipping has gotten absolutely bat-shit crazy. We lived in a college town and liked to tip generously in restaurants, but things have gotten nuts. The one place I can be 100% sure they aren’t expecting a tip is McDonalds. Yeah, as if we don’t have enough weird crap to worry about already, let’s add tipping where it previously didn’t exist into the mix!
