Pumping gas? (unemployment rate, luxury, inspections)

[Adrian71]

So I'd heard about this before, but I'd forgotten about it until I saw it mentioned in a post on the WA forum.

Why can't you pump your own gas in Oregon? Who came up with that law, and why???

My wife ran into the same thing when she was on a business trip in NJ. She got out of her car to pump gas, and she said the attendant came running out all irate, telling her to step away from the pumps! That's crazy! Apparently, NJ and OR are the only two states in the country where this is the law.

I just find this really bizarre. Is there any talk of ever changing the law in OR?

[ldm883]

Actually, I kinda like having someone pump my gas for me. I never smell like gas or diesel, don't have to get out when it's raining or blowing, and can even get someone else to wash my windows! Don't you like service? And, think of all the jobs Oregon (and NJ) has that other states don't. Lots of young guys and gals, and even old guys and gals get jobs pumping gas. I'm for it! I travel a lot and Oregon's gas prices aren't any higher then anywhere else on the average. Give me the good old days when gas station attendants actually offered "service".

PS...when they're a little slow I do sneak out and top it off so I can get going!

[jm21]

It's part of the very heavy blue collar protection in OR. Pumping gas in OR pays about the same as hard labor at a mill in TX (about $8/hour). You can easily hit assistant manager and get $10-11/hour. Think about how many gas stations there are in OR, how many people they have to employ to stay open (gas stations are usually open very early/late, or even 24/7). That's a lot of jobs. Same reason a mill worker here can make $50+k/year. We protect the blue collar workers more than practically any other state...then it's expensive as hell to do business here so not many businesses come...and then you have OR's historically high unemployment rate and relatively high cost of living.

[jiffin4java]

Originally Posted by ldm883

Actually, I kinda like having someone pump my gas for me. I never smell like gas or diesel, don't have to get out when it's raining or blowing, and can even get someone else to wash my windows! Don't you like service? And, think of all the jobs Oregon (and NJ) has that other states don't. Lots of young guys and gals, and even old guys and gals get jobs pumping gas. I'm for it! I travel a lot and Oregon's gas prices aren't any higher then anywhere else on the average. Give me the good old days when gas station attendants actually offered "service".

PS...when they're a little slow I do sneak out and top it off so I can get going!

I've been pumping my own gas since I was a teen and I have yet to smell like gasoline or even HEAR of someone smelling like gasoline from pumping gas.

That being said, I've said this on another thread and I'll say it here....if you have small kids it's acutally a benefit to have someone pump the gas for you. I can't leave my kids in the car while I run in and pay because well, that's just plain stupid, and it's such a pain to bring them in with me. Most of the less expensive gas stations where I am don't have the Pay-at-the-Pump feature and many of them that do don't work. I don't like to use the card that often either because I lose track of what I've spent. I don't think I'll mind having to leave just a couple minutes earlier when I need to take the time to get gas.

[karlsch]

It's done as a courtesy to the old folks who come to Oregon for the suicide,

Click here and you will understand:

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...wim/Oregon.gif

[Adrian71]

Originally Posted by ldm883

Actually, I kinda like having someone pump my gas for me. I never smell like gas or diesel, don't have to get out when it's raining or blowing, and can even get someone else to wash my windows! Don't you like service? And, think of all the jobs Oregon (and NJ) has that other states don't. Lots of young guys and gals, and even old guys and gals get jobs pumping gas. I'm for it! I travel a lot and Oregon's gas prices aren't any higher then anywhere else on the average. Give me the good old days when gas station attendants actually offered "service".

My dad ran a full-service gas station/garage when I was growing up in Michigan. People seemed to like the service. But this was 25 years ago, and it just seems so ... antiquated now!

I've always pumped my own gas. Having the option of full service is fine. I'd just prefer to have a choice. Most states now are completely self-serve, but some stores still have separate self-serve and full-serve bays. If you want someone to pump for you, then you pull up to the full-serve bay. That just seems more sensible to me. But what do I know?

[Adrian71]

Originally Posted by jm21

It's part of the very heavy blue collar protection in OR. Pumping gas in OR pays about the same as hard labor at a mill in TX (about $8/hour). You can easily hit assistant manager and get $10-11/hour. Think about how many gas stations there are in OR, how many people they have to employ to stay open (gas stations are usually open very early/late, or even 24/7). That's a lot of jobs. Same reason a mill worker here can make $50+k/year. We protect the blue collar workers more than practically any other state...then it's expensive as hell to do business here so not many businesses come...and then you have OR's historically high unemployment rate and relatively high cost of living.

Mm-hmm. I always figured this was part of the reason they have mandatory annual auto inspections down here in VA ... purely to keep the service stations in business and provide additional opportunities for the blue-collar guys. Interesting stuff.

[Imperial1904]

Personally, it's alot faster if I pump my own gas. Sometimes I have to wait up to 10 minutes before someone comes up to my car and another 10 minutes after the gas has stopped pumping.

I just always thought Oregonians just don't know how to pump their own gas.

[ukiyo-e]

The first time I was in Oregon I got out of my car and started to pump my own gas, and a young lady ran out waving and said, "Wait, wait - you must be from California - you can't pump your own gas here!" When I asked her why, SHE claimed it was because it was unhealthy to smell the fumes, and that Oregon is more concerned about people's health than other states. So I said, "You mean it's better for you to make minimum wage smelling it 40 hours a week than it is for the rest of us to smell it for three minutes once a week?" That made her scrunch her face up in confusion.

I really think it's got to be for job protection, as another poster pointed out...the health angle makes no sense to me since you can cut way back on the fumes with the right equipment on the pumps, and even if you couldn't make it safer, that would be more reason not to have people pumping it all week!

[Lee151]

I learned to drive in a self pump state but love the luxury of not having to get out and pump in the rain and wind here.