May 18, 2006

Pump your own gas? Not in NJ One of my favorite memories of living in NJ was the inabililty to pump my own gas.

It isn't the old fashioned full serve, but they do fill up the tank. And, gas in NJ was cheaper than the surrounding states when I lived there. Now that I'm back in California, I've fessed up to being able to fill my own gas tank, but I don't like doing it, having been spoiled by NJ's convenience.

posted by path 18 years ago
  • path I grew up in New Jersey. The first time I went to a state that let you pump yr own I was shocked! I still dislike pumping it myself, after almost 15 years in California. I hate the smell of gas! I guess I, too, was spoiled by the Land of Plenty that is The Garden State.
  • So is it ever appropriate to tip the person who pumps your gas?
  • Or I meant to say "is it -typically- appropriate to tip the person who pumps your gas?"
  • we never tipped the gas pumper back in the dark ages when i was a little childrens. also, gas didnt quite cost $1 per gallon. and that was EXPENSIVE because of that whole OPEC thingy in the early 70s....
  • I've never seen anyone tip, but I haven't seen everyone. Our only Governor just floated the idea of getting rid of it, and the uproar was great. He stated that he thought it would be OK, but he wasn't going to expend political capital to get it. Since gas doesn't cost more here than NY or PA (less, actually), nobody sees an advantage to switching.
  • It's the same in Oregon--not allowed to pump your own gas, full service only. Whenever I drive down there, I always forget and am confused when the pump guy comes over and asks me what grade gas I want.
  • I like the smell of gas...>>
  • We still have a few stations where you're given the options of full service or self service. While in high school I had a part-time job pumping gas. One Saturday afternoon two women in a little MG convertible pulled up to the pump. Before the advent of self-serve, gas nozzles were equipped with a latch that let the flow continue without having to hold on, so the gas jockey could attend to other duties while the tank filled. Somehow, the latch had been left in place after the previous customer and when I picked up the nozzle and turned on the pump, the MG and the horrified ladies inside were instantly soaked with gasoline. Fortunately, there was no ensuing conflagration but my career in the oil industry never really went much further.
  • Mee too, KittenHead. Drive across the Idaho border and forget, then get outta the truck to pump your own, they 'bout call the pump police on you. Yeesh! Oh, and warsh my windshield while your at it.
  • Before the advent of self-serve, gas nozzles were equipped with a latch that let the flow continue without having to hold on Those are still on 95% of pumps I use, and they cut off once the tank is full. I routinely go do other stuff while the gas pumps.
  • I find that the latches are disappearing. Which is a pain in the ass, having to wait before I can use the station's squeegee to wipe the bird shit off the car. Never gotten used to the idea of full-serve. I avoid it like the plague. Having people attend on me makes me very uncomfortable. Gas jockeys, the guy with the towel in the men's room -- I see it all as anti-democratic.
  • Those are still on 95% of pumps I use, and they cut off once the tank is full. I heard a "department of weights and measures" guy talking about those handles and how when they're set on the lowest setting they tend to average dispensing more gas in a gallon than less. And when they're set on the highest, they tend to average dispensing less than a gallon. Nothing to stay up nights about, but I set it on the lowest setting now. Cause I'm all about stickin' it to The Man! Yeah!
  • Pete, how can there be more or less gas in a gallon? Isn't a gallon a gallon no matter what?
  • not according to the weights and measures guy. That was his job to check that a gallon was a gallon. For the record, he said usually it was. But sometimes . . it t'werent.
  • petebest: set the setting? How do you do that yourself? Or even know what the "setting" is?
  • Hmm.. I've never seen one of these latch pump things or anything with settings. Here in NY, you just put it in and have to hold it 'til you're done. It's been that way ever since the pumps became self-serve.
  • There are often city ordinances against the latches (of either the 'hook at the back' or 'notch on the bottom' style). path: most of these have three different notches that you can lock that keep the handle in 'on', 'more on', and 'most on'. I once had one of these fail to autoshutoff, so even if I use the latch, I stay close. But now I live in New Jersey, so it only comes up on road trips.
  • My Bobo (grandmother) was a very smart and capable woman, but sometimes she would decide that she couldn't do certain things, like vacuum or pump gas. While my Paw Paw (grandfather) was alive, he'd do those things for her -- he'd take the car out and fill it up once a week or so, or run the vacuum 'round the house. After he died, the disappearance of full-service joints meant my Bobo had to admit that she knew how to pump gas for a while... until she somehow magically got the regular worker at the 7-11 to pump the gas for her. For free. She was my hero.
  • Capt. Renault, you can usually wedge your gas cap into the pump handle so it holds the handle "squeezed". Stay with it the first couple of times to make sure the pump stops when your tank's full. It always has for me, unlike one memorable time the full-service nozzle fell out and kept pumping all over the ground. At least islander - the attendant wasn't smoking that time.
  • I just wish more stations had some kind of provision for getting the gas off your hands. I particularly favor the little pump of foamy hand sanitizer stuff. But my usual station has nothing. Damn, dirty apes.