Virginia needs a law requiring full-service gas
Riverbank, Calif., 1940 | Dorthea Lange | Wikimedia Commons
Your daily Letter to the Columnist, Dec. 12, 2012
Dear Mr. Casey.
I just read your front page story and want to register my sadness about the passage of this full-service auto shop.
I moved from New Jersey to Blacksburg in 2010. You know what I miss most about NJ? No, it’s not storms like Sandy, but one fantastic law. In New Jersey it is against the law to pump one’s own gas. That has to be at the top of the list of my favorite laws.
When I need gasoline I usually am tired, and I do NOT feel like crawling out of my comfortable seat to try to figure out how to first take the cover off my gas tank, then insert the credit card in the proper way, and then figure out how to remove the nozzle and insert it into my tank.
I only fill my tank approximately once a month and in the 20 to 30 times I have filled my tank in the past three years, 80% of the time I have had to request help from a nearby kind person or go inside the station.
Why can’t there at least be some consistency among all of the gas stations as to the proper procedure of accomplishing this tedious and possibly dangerous operation? They all are different!
Once when I went back to my driver’s seat to make a telephone call, I almost drove off without removing the hose. Recently, I read in a station that there is $150 fine for committing such an offense. When I questioned just how often that happens, I was told that at least 3 times a month. WOW!
Multiply that number by all of the stations in this country and figure out the cost to everyone. Just from a safety standpoint, it would seem to be reasonable that service stations should reinstate attendants to pump gas. Think how many young people would be able to get entry level jobs to earn a bit of money if these jobs were once again necessary. If New Jersey can make these laws, why not Virginia and all other states? Why don’t you research this question?
Thank you for your well-written articles which often motivate me to want to write comments. Today I just happened to be sitting in front of my computer so I wrote while the urge was still upon me.
Thanks for helping me get this pet peeve off my chest.
Arlean Lambert, retired Librarian
BLACKSBURG
December 12, 2012 - 1:30 PM
So Arlean doesn’t think that women should have the right to choose to pump their own gas.
I’ve never seen or heard of anybody driving off without removing the hose. I’m sure it must happen occasionally, but I can’t imagine that it happens three times a month at one place — unless maybe it’s in one of those precincts that voted 99 percent Romney.
Why do I get the feeling this is a troll job?
Look at the price of gasoline in that photo and compare it to today. This is what we get for electing Obama.
Original post:
“In New Jersey it is against the law to pump one’s own gas. That has to be at the top of the list of my favorite laws.
When I need gasoline I usually am tired, and I do NOT feel like crawling out of my comfortable seat to try to figure out how to first take the cover off my gas tank, then insert the credit card in the proper way, and then figure out how to remove the nozzle and insert it into my tank.”
The mantra of the authoritarian. NJ is such a screwed-up state!
Ms. Lambert, just because you are too tired, lazy, inept, or whatever to pump your own gas, there is no need to impose laws on the rest of us. Besides, practically every gas station offers assistance to those who truly need help.
It’s illegal to pump gas in NJ because of liability. Other states, bless them, don’t suffer from the overly high attorney-to-resident population ratio that burdens the Garden State.
I get into trouble whenever I go up to visit, because I completely forget and hop out of my car to start filling the tank myself. Then I get yelled at. I hate sitting and waiting for the guy to get to me, then to take my card, then to get my card back…I love the convenience of do-it-myself.
But aren’t there places that offer Full Service still? If you can’t wait to make a phone call until you’re done filling up, pull into a full service bay.
Just remember that full service is also full price . I know service stations that offer full service for customers that need it. Again you pay extra for full service. As long as I am able I will use self service.
I’ve never used full service. I’ve also never been to New Jersey. I have no intention of changing either of those.
You have to weigh the value of lower gas prices and self-service versus higher prices with full service. Sort of like deciding if one should enter a nursing home where they will wipe your rear for you versus living independently and taking care of yourself.
Kristen:
“It’s illegal to pump gas in NJ because of liability.”
No, it’s mother-may-I absurdity on a huge scale. Don’t blame the attorneys. I’m sure a bill in the legislature could get rid of this nonsense quickly if those people cared.
Dan, you need a “More authoritarian nonsense” tag for this blog. This post fits into perfectly.
“Once when I went back to my driver’s seat to make a telephone call,”
I am not an attorney but I believe in many states this is illegal,
(unattended fuel pump while operating).
Don’t know about Va, if not it should be.
If you buy gas so seldom why don’t you locate a full service station in your community and go there each time you need a refill? Just because you can not handle the task why penalize 99.9% of the population? Actually, if you have that much difficulty operating a gas pump I question if you should be operating an automobile.
GDAD
This is for you.
Last month I pulled in to get gas. I never go inside…but this time I did. When I came out I got in the car and took off. I heard a noise and immediately felt the dread of what I had done. The hose was dangling behind my car with the tip still in the car. Amazingly, there was not a drop of gas spilled. There must be a shutdown valve or something.
I went inside and asked the guy what I owed him and he said $200. I went to the ATM, settled up and went on my way.
I know…..how can one be such a dumb ass. It’s kinda scary.
“Last month I pulled in to get gas. I never go inside…but this time I did. When I came out I got in the car and took off. I heard a noise and immediately felt the dread of what I had done. The hose was dangling behind my car with the tip still in the car. Amazingly, there was not a drop of gas spilled. There must be a shutdown valve or something.
I went inside and asked the guy what I owed him and he said $200. I went to the ATM, settled up and went on my way.
I know…..how can one be such a dumb ass. It’s kinda scary.”
Terps,
Are you serious?
“I know…..how can one be such a dumb ass. It’s kinda scary.”
Stuff happens. Glad there wasn’t further damage of any kind. The worst I’ve ever done is forget to put my gas cap back in. Oh, and one time I started to drive away without paying. By the time I stopped and went inside the guy was getting ready to call the cops.
Having an attendant does not eliminate the possibility of driving off with the hose still attached to the car.
JohnW, I’m from NJ and know exactly what it is. It has nothing to do with “authoritarianism”. Unless you can explain to me how ceding the right to pump gas to the gas station attendants accomplishes any particular government authoritarian goals.
What’s next? Having an attendant at the self-service drink machine in restaurants?
I wholeheartedly agree. My parents can’t figure out how to configure their DVR and I’ve long thought that there should be a law requiring Tivo to send a human representative, at no charge to you, to your house to do it for you.
Amen, sister.
If I had not damaged a station’s hose or pump — which sounds like the case that Terps is describing, given that the nozzle didn’t even leave his car’s gas-tank tube — then I would have refused to pay the station for anything other than gas. But I would have given them my name and number and invited me to sue them for the money.
@Rob Thommins: “I am not an attorney but I believe in many states this is illegal, (unattended fuel pump while operating). Don’t know about Va, if not it should be.”
Interesting. Even in New Jersey they start the pump and then walk away to start a pump for a different patron.
On my last visit to New Jersey, back in the summer, I told the attendant that I wanted to pump the gas myself and he allowed me to do so. Maybe just a fluke.
Maybe when Terps says “The hose was dangling behind my car with the tip still in the car” he means the hose was torn from the pump?
@Kristen: “Unless you can explain to me how ceding the right to pump gas to the gas station attendants accomplishes any particular government authoritarian goals.”
Jobs program. Take something that people can do perfectly by themselves and then require that companies employ someone else to do it for you.
Terps, I applaud you for sharing, but hope I never join your fraternity!
Sounds like we need a law against going inside to pay for gas too!
Kristen asks:
“Unless you can explain to me how ceding the right to pump gas to the gas station attendants accomplishes any particular government authoritarian goals.”
Rob answers:
“What’s next? Having an attendant at the self-service drink machine in restaurants?”
It’s obvious you’re from NJ, there was no need to tell me.
.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that she voted for Obama.
As a retired Firefighter, I can tell you that not only do people often drive off with the nozzle in their fuel outlet, but you’d also be shocked at how many cars drive into buildings. There are lots of absent minded drivers out there, just hope you aren’t near when they “lose” their mind.
Yes Dan. It’s true. And my wife and kids don’t know so what happens on Dan’s blog, stays…………….
Well, if Terps ripped the the hose off the pump, then he owed them money. But his post was ambiguous on that point.
Hey, we have a president, who doesn’t understand simple math, “behind the wheel” of our economy; why not pass a law to make it easy for those who don’t have enough sense to pump gas be “behind the wheel” on our roads…
I agree with Kristen, too many lawyers = not enough laws…
Here’s a link to an article that explains why you can’t pump your own gas in New Jersey(or Oregon).
Basically, it’s an antiquated law that is right up there in terms of relevency with states who still have laws against certain sexual positions.
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15455
“Hey, we have a president, who doesn’t understand simple math, “behind the wheel” of our economy; why not pass a law to make it easy for those who don’t have enough sense to pump gas be “behind the wheel” on our roads.”
mikeO, are you living in some alternate universe in which Romney won the White House? Because that was his big problem, as Bil Clinton so painstakingly demonstrated at the Democratic National Convention.
The Welfare President understands that a trillion dollars in entitlements = votes.
Obviously if there’s someone pumping the gadsden, it’s not “self serve”. Believe it or not, there are restaurants where they get your drink and bring it to you. Not all drinks are self-serve either.
Pumping your own gas is no moral victory or great accomplishment. Being able to afford to pay someone else to do it is no different than paying someone else to cut your hair. I could cut and color my own hair I suppose, but I can afford to pay someone else to do it for me. I dont feel that my independence is unduly hampered by this. I think the NJ law is stupid, but no more stupid than the alcohol laws in Virginia which are far more infantilizing.
Gadsden = gasoline. Autocorrect fail.
Makes you wonder how the North won the war.
I worked in a few convenience stores many years ago. Never saw anyone drive away with the hose still in the tank.
Once, at a store in Boulder, a woman came in furious that no one had come out to pump her gas. She didn’t realize it was self service, despite the store’s name: U-GAS-’EM.
Dylan:
“it’s an antiquated law that is right up there in terms of relevency with states who still have laws against certain sexual positions.”
Apparently some folks are obsessed with all kinds of pumping.
Dan
It was a complete, big time screw up. I ripped the hose from the pump completely. I knew it as soon as it happened. I wanted to pay the guy quickly so no one would find out and commit me to Catawba. Your safe because we have enough on each other for a mutual destruction pact.
“It’s obvious you’re from NJ”
comment by John Wilburn
That’s an interesting angle on appealing to relocating homebuyers you’ve got there, JW, although consistent with your opinion of Massachusetts accents. Hopefully you can find enough charitable Christmas spirit to accept the flaws of those not fortunate enough to be from Bluefield, that anything but provincial cosmopolitan center of the world.
Dan, re 4:25
I am open to any “facts” you wish to put forth…
Kristen, re: 4:54
Apparently you don’t understand “obamaconomy”.
You should not have the choice to color and cut “your own hair” because you are taking jobs from hairdressers. And that is unpatriotic..
While John Wilburn is always happy to accuse anyone of being “authoritarian” for liking any law, rule or policy, I do not think that expressing your thought that “there ought to be a law” is the same as working to get that law passed, or wanting to oppress anyone. In this case, this will probably be the one and only time she even discusses it publicly (if she intended to at all).
I remember full service gas stations and I loved them. They always offered to check my oil, they cleaned my windshield while I waited and I never had to leave the car in cold weather. I thought it was great. I confess that I almost never pump my own gas (totally spoiled wife). Maybe once a year or less I do so and yes, I am usually confounded on exactly how the pump works for a few moments.
Considering the time and expense of replacing hoses, drive-offs that don’t pay and yes, even explosions (just the other night as my husband pumped my gas, the attendant had to leave the building to advise a lady she could not pump gas with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth), I do not blame New Jersey or any other place that mandates an employee pump the fuel.
Nor do I think this lady wants to rule the world just because she thinks “there oughta be a law”.
Full of Southern Pride & Common Sense:
“Makes you wonder how the North won the war.”
Bullies then. Bullies now. Just because they are too lazy or stupid to pump their own gas, they demand a law that makes everyone else pay for their inability. It’s ridiculous.
Sandi Saunders:
“I do not think that expressing your thought that “there ought to be a law” is the same as working to get that law passed, or wanting to oppress anyone.”
It’s not the same thing as working to get a law passed. That is far more work than someone too lazy to figure out how their gas cap works or get out of their car is willing to do.
“In this case, this will probably be the one and only time she even discusses it publicly (if she intended to at all).”
Stands to reason. It won’t stop other power-hungry politicians from running with it, though. I could see mega-authoritarian Dick Saslaw, or library nanny Mayme BaCote patroning such an awful bill.
“I remember full service gas stations and I loved them.”
Me too. They should be an option, not law of the land. People that don’t understand the difference and vote scare me.
“Nor do I think this lady wants to rule the world just because she thinks “there oughta be a law”.”
This attitude enables all sorts of government abuse. Just wait until it’s something she doesn’t like, but too unintersted to oppose. Freedom is taken one grain of sand at a time. That lady will wake up one day and the beach, everyone’s beach, will be gone.
if you miss it so much go back to jersey.
“Nor do I think this lady wants to rule the world just because she thinks “there oughta be a law”.”
This attitude enables all sorts of government abuse. Just wait until it’s something she doesn’t like, but too unintersted to oppose. Freedom is taken one grain of sand at a time. That lady will wake up one day and the beach, everyone’s beach, will be gone.
Comment by John Wilburn — December 12, 2012 @ 8:05 pm
John’s comment re: Sandi’s comment makes a point. Try taking your 4 X 4 to Hatteras to drive on the beach.
Really? I don’t mean any disrespect to the writer but based on the fact that the writer infers that fueling a vehicle is a complicated process and therefore a law should be passed to have someone else fuel the car, this writer may not be fit to drive. Adaptation is the a basic component to survival. What about full service Red Box Rental kiosks? What a pitiful letter.
This attitude enables all sorts of government abuse. Just wait until it’s something she doesn’t like, but too unintersted to oppose. Freedom is taken one grain of sand at a time. That lady will wake up one day and the beach, everyone’s beach, will be gone.
Comment by John Wilburn — December 12, 2012 @ 8:05 pm
I believe you’ve taken the grain of sand and made a beach. The things people find to argue about on here……
Debbie:
“I believe you’ve taken the grain of sand and made a beach. The things people find to argue about on here……”
Eventually, it will be something you care about. Let’s hope we still have the means to do something about it.
I pumped gas for my dad in the ’70s when the self-service trend started. We kept one ‘island’ full service and charged .10 more per gallon for full service for folks that wanted it. However, if someone was elderly, disabled, etc., we would wave them to the self-service pump and do it for them.
Also, if you wanted gas on credit, you had to pay the full service price.
Do any of you remember gas wars? Do you remember when gas didn’t have the 0.9 cents tacked on?
I live in the Grandin Rd. area and used the Grandin Rd. Texaco (Pure) for the occasional oil change, flat tire and very rarely gas. Its announced demise made me think that the car repair landscape has changed considerably over the years and I think that has as much to do with the downfall of the full service station.
I am as close to being a car mechanic as being a brain surgeon. But I can change oil and most filters. That’s it. But with today’s cars to keep a car running for thousands of miles that’s all that is really needed. Gone are the 5,000 mile tune ups with new points and plugs and setting the timing. I take my car in for check ups 10,000 to 20,000 mis., get the oil and filter changed in between and that’s it.
When I was young it was a ritual to go with my father on a Saturday morning to the neighborhood gas station and drop the car off for a tuneup. Today’s cars don’t have points that need to be replaced, carburetors that need to be adjusted, and spark plugs that had to be changed every 10,000 miles. Some plugs today can last up to 100,000 miles. The 5-10K lube is also a thing of the past.
All this work commonly was done by the neighborhood gas station. Oil changes are have been taken over by the Quick Lube type place which specialize in it and can get you in and out under an hour, even less. If the gas station doesn’t have fan belts to change, oil to change or gas to pump, maybe your oil changed in a couple hours.
Further consider the proliferation of retailers such as Advance Auto which sells any car part the back yard mechanic could ever want. Who sold those parts before? Often it was the gas station. Cars are made today with less need for regular maintenance. Oil and filter changes are done by specialty shops which deal in volume, speed and low price.
And we all seem to be in a big hurry these days. Where there still are the Mrs. Lamberts and my Mother who want others to do it for them, the vast majority of us want to pump our own gas to save money and time. We wanted cars with less maintenance and the car companies delivered and we wanted cheaper gas faster and the retailers delivered. The full service station is a casualty of the advances in our cars and our desire for lower prices.
We may bemoan their passing but really when it comes down to it, it’s what we asked for.
Iif anyone cares to do a tiny bit of research, they’d find that the NJ law came way way before Obama taking office. Paranoid Marxist socialist Randian UN conspiracy hysteria notwithstanding.
i think Lambert’s on to somthin’, and it’s up to dan to get the RTs’ editors to write an editorial espousing the virtues of enacting such a law which makes it illegal for folks to pump their own gas. I think it should have at least the following features:
1. there should be a maximum ratio of 3 active gas pumps per employee.
2. each employee must be a high school graduate, and the owner of the gas station must pay to have each employee hazmat-certified and cpr certified within 3 months of initial employment.
3. each gas station must provide heated and cooled over-head shelter from the elements… exclusively for the gas-pumpers, and located in an area where the gas-pumper will not be called upon to perform other duties for the gas station….gas-pumpers shall not multi-task other than to pump gas, clean windshields, and check tire pressure and fuel levels.
4. Special certification needs to be attained, and the gas station owners’ expense, for gas-pumpers to be qualified to pump diesel fuel.
5. all certified gas-pumpers must join a union.
Think of all the yappy racket the libs will make dancing around the bon-fire when all THAT goes into effect! Oh, yeah, and think of the lines to get to the pumps, and think of the cost for the gas which the gas-pumpers pump. and think of the stupidity…
Re: NJ, self-service, and authoritarianism
I am an anti-authoritarian — i.e., a small “l” libertarian, leaning toward the Minarchist view. So, IMHO, NJ’s law on this issue is an example of authoritarianism and an unwarranted intrusion into a business operation w/o any demonstrated “need” for its existence.
I advocate minimizing governmental coercion and I emphasize freedom, liberty, voluntary association, etc. In particular, I advocating a society with significantly less governmental intrusion into the womb, the bedroom, the boardroom, essential freedoms, etc.
Hence, any “there ought to be a law” should require that the proposer/supporter of such a law to demonstrate a true need for such a law to exist, IMHO.
Terps@14
I was a bit more fortunate. Same story as yours, but the business owner forgave me my sin and sent me on my way for being honest about it. This particular hose was engineered for dumb ass people like me, so it wasn’t too hard to fix.
WOW!! This has got to be the most idiotic story posted by Dan to date! The reason for the law in New Jersey is simple. New Jersey natives need permission from a union representative in order to wipe the defecation from their anuses.
The Grandin Road station that is either about ready to close or be sold pandered to the full service fill up crowd in the Grandin Village area. Maybe if more people that are not smart enough to to do self serve on their own had patronized that establishment, they would be opening up more shops instead of shutting it down.Why was their gas typically higher than Sheetz or Kroger,,the full service concept ,,which arguabally failed.
Stay off your phones, ipads, et al and plan a five minute easy experience of filling up your own gas tank,please.
“New Jersey natives need permission from a union representative in order to wipe the defecation from their anuses.”
Gosh, Travis, even the huge majority of workers not represented by a union?
Travis:
“New Jersey natives need permission from a union representative in order to wipe the defecation from their anuses.”
Thay probably have to buy some sort of permit first, too.
Scott Whitaker, thanks for the post regaring the decline of full service stations. It was very well thought out by using common sense as a guide vs political dogma.
Does it ever occur to some of you that sometimes something is just a discussion? Is extremism all you know? There is no move to create such a law, and since you want to dictate to New Jersey, will they be allowed to reciprocate?
So we should all be able to take our “4 X 4 to Hatteras to drive on the beach”? Wow, what hubris.
Travis, I am again unclear on what “union representation” has to do with citizens from all walks of life at the gas station. Perhaps JohnW can clarify the connection.
John W, you might want to check how few NJ workers are actually unionized before getting too giddy over Travis’ nonsensical post.
BTW, in case anybody starts jumping to conclusions, I absolutely do not think we should start requiring that gas be pumped by somebody else.
Sandi, this fall we were driving home through Hatteras and I was laughing at the Romney signs we saw along the way. The best one was “Romney/Ryan for Open Beaches”. As though R/R either knew or cared about the Outer Banks beach driving issues.
But hey, they were marketing to all those way smart Republican voters I’ve been told of.
Most idiotic post of the day goes to……ding ding ding ding….@57. Makes absolutely no point at all and adds virtually nothing to the conversation.
I would suggest going to Daytona Beach to drive on the beach where it’s legal. Too many seasonal resrictions at Hatteras.Floridians also are smart enough to pump their own gas in that state last time I recently traveled there.Think they even named a race after the place,,fill er up.
“BTW, in case anybody starts jumping to conclusions, I absolutely do not think we should start requiring that gas be pumped by somebody else.”
Nor do I. On the other hand, I respect readers and I LOVE it when they’re passionate about something, even if I don’t share their point of view.
Typical conservatives, “free speech” is a cherished right…as long as they agree with it, otherwise, this is their reaction.
Re: Sandi Saunders @ 11:27 pm
Sandi,
I’m not sure whom you are addressing.
However, IMHO, freedom to dispute someone’s point-of-view is an important part of free-speech — for all parties.
I like pumping my own gas. I would HATE it if I had to wait for someone to get my gas for me.
I would actively campaign against any candidate who supported such an idiotic law.
Im gonna show a good bit about my age here..
But pumping gas has a special meaning to me
as I remember my teenage years.
The place I first got gasoline was maybe 1/4 mile from my house over in
Franklin County.
I wanted the man that ran that store to trust me more than anything.
There were 2 Shell pumps at his store. One yellow one white.It was a beer joint sold a little gas
some cheese and hotdogs..and maybe a loaf of bread.
He ran it himself. It was a community thing..and back in those days
ladies didnt pump their own gas..he would come out and do it and trusted the other patrons inside to “behave” while he was out.
The fact that he let me..a 16 year old pump my own gas made me feel like
a grownup..and suggested to me I was about to join the adult world.
I didnt have a helluva lot more going for me. But I tried.
Those , too, were the days when there were only 3 rows of spinning numbers on the pumps. Black with white lettering as I remember it.
After you got to 9.99 dollars of gas then (probably about 40 cents a gallon) the display would start over back at zero..In other words if you put 13.00 worth of gas in it would show 3.00 because of the rollover.
He trusted me to be honest enough to say yea it was 13…or 3 as the case may be.
Its amazing what community and a basic sense of trust did for me.
Later on I realized that they probably sold outlandish amounts of
sugar out of that store…but thats an entirely different chapter.
http://cr4.globalspec.com/PostImages/201010/GasPump_700_E3E35D76-BFB9-7262-B0869A5EA60D03B6.jpg
When I was 18 and 19 I worked at a place called Arnold Sunoco. It was a full-service only station with 3 bays and threadbare office. The owner was a character named Joe Cunningham, and I worked 20 hours a week during my freshman & sophomore years and full-time during the summer. Joe was short & wiry, balding, with a black beard and a mile-wide smile a mile. He was gruff but usually good natured, and he spoke with such a thick West Virginia twang that I couldn’t understand half the things he said.
We pumped gas, cleaned windshields, checked oil & wiper fluid — and sometimes transmission fluid if a customer asked us to. Eventually, Joe taught me to change oil, belts, hoses, tires, and other light-duty service work. He was the chief mechanic, but he had a bunch who ran through there. They never stayed real long.
One of his schticks was to employ young women as gas jockeys, and he encouraged them to wear bikini tops and short cutoffs during the summer. That brought in a lot of male customers, who were always disappointed if I showed up at their driver’s window to ask how much gas they wanted.
Joe loved to play the horses, and every now and then when he got a hot tip, he and his wife Diane would show up at the station and raid the cash box as they headed off top the track. Diane was his second wife (they met when he hired her to work at the station. But she’d been in a terrible car crash that left her badly burned and qu9ite disfigured and in a lot of pain.
Her best friend was a young woman named Barbara. Barbara had straight platinum blonde hair, a somewhat pretty face, and Playboy centerfold’s body. When I worked at the station, she would show up every now and then, driving an 18-wheeler. She’d pull in, honk her horn, and Joe would drop whatever he was doing and climb in the cab, and they would go off for an hour or two. He always came back with a huge smile. I’m pretty sure that Joe and Barbara had an arrangement with Diane, who because of her injuries wasn’t able to . . . you know.
He lent me the money to buy my first car, and made sure it was roadworthy before I bought it. His customers trusted him implicitly, and he told me more than once that he would never cheat them because he liked to sleep at night.
Some years later, when I was a police reporter for the Annapolis daily, I had the occasion to call him because his old station had been broken into three times in three weeks. I asked him what was up with that, and he said, “I dunno . . . but those thieves are going to have a surprise waiting for them the next time they break in.”
“What do you mean?” I aked.
“I’m gonna booby trap this place, so it blow up, catches on fire in the next break-in!” he said. “It’s gonna be a big, big fire.” When I told my editor that, we sent a photographer out to take a picture.”
It was the lead story story in the next day’s paper — the salty, longtime businessman who was so frustrated by thieves that he was going to rig his place to blow up in the next break-in. The story made the national wire.
I never knew whether Joe meant it or was pulling my leg (he would do crazy things from time to time). But nobody ever broke in that station again.
In high school I worked a couple of years for Carl Peters at the old Cave Spring American. He was a salty old bastard but a dedicated family man. So sad they all died before their time, but I learned a lot from him, particularly my love of mechanics. He had two sets of pumps, one full, one self-serve. He always grumbled when he saw a customer pull to the far island.
Don’t want any more laws, but I wouldn’t have had a job without those high price pumps.
Great story Dan, I pumped gas briefly in my early day’s at a Sunoco in Fairfax….When I was reading the letter at the top I thought it was a joke, but I guess not….Was expecting it to be signed by Mitt.
AMEN to this letter to the Editor in today’s paper:
Obama not to blame for folks getting old
Bill Millner, owner of Grandin Auto Shop (“Tough conditions claim Grandin auto shop,” Dec. 11), states that his business has been dwindling for six years. He admits one reason is because his customer base is aging. He then implies that if Mitt Romney were president instead of Barack Obama, things might turn around. Does this man think we are stupid? Six years ago, George W. Bush was president. Therefore, his decline began under a Republican administration.
No matter who is president, it will not change the fact that his customers are old and dying. I am so tired of older white men blaming Obama for what he has no control over.
CHERYL E. PRESTON
ROANOKE
This whole discussion and Dan’s comment at 2:07 a.m. reminded me of this song. Enjoy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2lIMLgB_Sg
When we drive to my wife’s family place in New York we take I-80 across Pennsylvania to I-81 north to I-84 and then east into New York state. As you leave Pennsylvania, you very briefly cross into New Jersey before entering New York state. I always plan our trip so that when we get there we stop and fill up with gas. Someone else fills the tank and I save, usually, between 20 & 30 cents a gallon on gas over what I would have paid to pump my own gas in Pennsylvania or New York. I don’t understand it, but I sure like it.
Dan said at 2:07 am “But nobody ever broke in that station again.”
That, my friend, is exactly why I support gun ownership. And before anyone starts pointing it out, I know the comment was not about guns, but it’s about the concept that if criminals know if something is dangerous, they will go somewhere else.
Also, before anyone writes me off as a gun-nut, I will say that I served as a medic in Vietnam, never fired my weapon (not, that I wouldn’t have, but was usually busy with other things), but am intimately familiar with the horror people can inflict upon each other with weapons. So if you have a firearm, you need to be responsible, which the vast majority of gun owners are.
joe, when I first moved to the New River Valley, there was a gas station in the middle of town in Blacksburg, next to the Tech Bookstore on South Main Street, that was still using that style of pump.
Kent Square now sits on that site.
Neat story Dan!
So we should all be able to take our “4 X 4 to Hatteras to drive on the beach”? Wow, what hubris.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — December 12, 2012 @ 10:50 pm
Hubris? Not. It is a free country. Who are you to dictate what someone
can or cannot do? Ms. Pompous I presume.
The only thing that I think should have some type of real enforcement would be that children should not be able to pump gas. I was at Kroger gas station on Hershberger, about 2 years ago and a woman was on her cell phone and letting her daughter pump the gas into a SUV. I would say the little lady was around 7 or 8. When the tank was full gas rushed out and gushed all over the face and front side of this young lady. I snatched her up and ran to the service counter and got eye wash and we had to call the paramedics.
There are signs saying that you have to be 16 to pump gas but I have never seen this enforced anywhere. I see kids pump gas all the time. I believe someone should be making sure gas station attendants enforce this rule. Other than that, pump all you want.
Since we’ve just survived 12/12/12, I happened to notice that the message I referred in my post at 7:02 a.m. this morning was posted at 2:07 a.m. this morning. Does anyone besides me find anything interesting in those numbers??
Scot Whitaker: “We wanted cars with less maintenance and the car companies delivered and we wanted cheaper gas faster and the retailers delivered. The full service station is a casualty of the advances in our cars and our desire for lower prices.”
I scrolled down to say this, pretty much. But somebody beat me to it.
“…but it’s about the concept that if criminals know if something is dangerous, they will go somewhere else.”
Except that after all that publicity it should have been clear to all that the guy would NOT have booby-trapped his station.
Justin, I hope that little girls mother learned her lesson. Too bad it was the child who suffered. There are some stupid people in this world.
I go to NJ at least once a year for vacation in Ocean City. I tend to fill up before I leave VA as it’s the cheapest around.
If I refill in NJ, it’s always a damn hassle because it takes forever for the guy to come pump and then you have to wait for him to come back to unhook you and take your payment.
If you do it yourself, its a ton faster. That said, I don’t see them repealing that law… think about the number of people that would be without work if they did. Lets face it, generalizing here (obviously), if you are pumping gas for a living, there’s probably a chance that a certain fraction of those people are felons or more desperate for cash than say… a lawyer, banker, or engineer.
Why would someone who’s pumping your gas be “felons” or more “desperate for cash” than someone flipping burgers or doing any other minimum wage job? Sorry scott but what a stupid statement. You’re not stupid I’m sure…that statement was.
Usually it’s the owners, managers, or service guys not currently changing a tire that pumps. There are not fleets of people hired specifically to pump the gas.
Saw $2.85 today. Went down 8 cents yesterday. Obama’s sinister oil plot seems to be failing.
Debbie, I hope so too. But like I said, I still see it all of the time. I even see it at Sam’s Club, and the attendant there just stands there and watches these people pump gas. And they still just turn a blind eye to kids pumping gas. It is aggravating. It doesn’t aggravate me as bad as parents who smoke them nasty cigarettes in cars with their kids… but it is up there!
“I even see it at Sam’s Club, and the attendant there just stands there and watches these people pump gas.”
The guy at the Towers Kroger had to tell a customer to put a cigarette out the other day. Seriously?
Dan, re: 2:07
Cool story…
Yes John Wilburn..
those pumps had a spinning handle
on the side opposite the pump…
You would crank it toward you till it stopped..
It required a good bit of effort..
That was to zero out the numbers from the last guy
who pumped.
I spent my baby years around Blacksburg/Christiansburg.
If you are not mentally capable of pumping fuel into your car, unsupervised, should you really be allowed to operate a motor vehicle ?
People smoking while pumping gas need to watch more tv. I think I learned from Wile E Coyote that gas and flames don’t mix.
Justin True:
“It doesn’t aggravate me as bad as parents who smoke them nasty cigarettes in cars with their kids”
That is child abuse and it angers me when I see it.
joe
It sounds to me like you could have been talking about my uncle in Franklin County!
Kristen, hmmm don’t think you’ve had your gas pumped in Jersey lately…. I did over Thanksgiving, twice. Those were some of the youngest gas station owners I’ve ever seen, pumping!
I’m just saying, “law of averages”-wise and making broad sweeping generalizations, not saying EVERYONE… that gas station attendant, as a position is more likely to hire a rehabilitated felon than say an engineering firm, or an investment banking firm. they simply have less opportunities than someone who is not… and thus have less opportunity.
Even if you take the whole felon argument out of the equation…. if you immediately put that many people out of work with a repeal of that law, crime on the whole will go up in some way.
And yes they do hire people specifically to work the pumps. There are plenty of gas stations with no “garage” attached. (Really, who’s going to drive way out on the NJ Turnpike or the GSP to get their oil changed).
True story that I heard on NPR years ago. I don’t remember where this happened, but a guy one winter, blew up his house after he put a can of gas that was frozen on his stove to thaw out.
scott, I don’t get my gas on the turnpike and parkway, so you’re right, my point would go more to small locally-owned places. But I’d still say that the employees in question are no more likely to be felons than any other low paying job.
It just dawned on me that we have full service gas right here on this blog every day . Just read Frank and suzie’s posts .