Comments on: Pry my pump from my cold, dead hands

By: Ula

Ula — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:18:18 +0000

It sounds like something to complain about now, but just wait till the winter when it’s freezing and been raining for a month and you have to get gas and ::poof:: someone pumps it for you and you never have to leave the car. I’ve gotten so used to it, when I leave the state I always end up sitting in the car for a minute waiting for someone to come up to me before I remember other states don’t offer the luxury of having someone else pump your gas for you. It’s really not as big of a deal as some of your friends above make it out to be. In fact, I kind of love it. And I’d say that typically, it only adds on no more than 5 minutes to how long it would take me to pump myself. I hardly ever have to wait for an attendant. And sometimes they clean my windows too. In short, I’m a fan.

By: Lance J. Mayhew

Lance J. Mayhew — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:08:09 +0000

The upside is that a) prices for gas aren’t any higher here in Oregon than they are across the river in WA or down in CA. and b) its not really full service. Some guy just pumps your gas.

While I think its a stupid law, it is kind of quaint and I’ve gotten quite used to it.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:09:31 +0000

Live on the north side of town… that way, you can just cross the Columbia whenever you need to fill up.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:26:23 +0000

Are you sure you want to move to this place? That would annoy the ever-loving crap out of me. (I too go out of my way to avoid full-service stations. In fact, I’ve never not pumped my own gas in my life.)

If your road trip once you leave VA happens to swing through Florida (as if), give me a call.

By: Jacob Grier

Jacob Grier — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:29:45 +0000

Thanks for the link. A friend of mine visiting from Jersey had a similar experience. After several minutes waiting for a non-existent gas attendant, she made the attempt herself. It somehow ended up in tears.

By: Robert S. Porter

Robert S. Porter — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:58:57 +0000

That reminds me of a Cato blog post from last year.

Personally I go out of my way to avoid full-service gas stations. I find it annoying to park and wait for the attendant when I can get out myself and do it quicker. Indeed, I’ve been known to get out and pump my own at full-service stations too.

The only annoying thing my province does is ban the locking device on the pump handles. This means you have to stand and hold it the entire time which prevents you from washing your windows and being more efficient. It’s also annoying in -40° weather that we get up here.

For this reason, I enjoy my yearly trip through the Mid-West/Western states and the wonderful handsfree gas pumps. Only three more days!

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:17:40 +0000

I had no idea how annoying this gas thing would be until I got here. Not only is gas way more expensive because of building-in those extra wages for those glorified carhops, it just makes everything take so much longer, since there’s typically only 1 person for all the pumps at a station. So you get to sit and wait to be waited on, without even getting the choice. It also creates problems with regard to 24 hour filling stations; namely, there are (almost) none, because you’ve got to have a person there.

God, I sound cranky. But this is by far the most annoying thing about Oregon.