Posted on 01/08/2018 1:24:03 PM PST by Liberty7732
Most Americans were probably drop-jawed to learn there was a state in the union where government overseers prohibited the people from pumping their own gas. The ultra-progressive and ever-controlling Oregon Legislature had banned this otherwise normal behavior for more than 50 years, ostensibly to provide some form of protection for its residents.
This is the practical reality of the general principle that government coddling creates entitlement, pampered residents with fewer freedoms, and reduced abilities to live independently. Oregon has been telling its residents for generations they are incapable of pumping their own gas, and now there are generations of Oregonians who are terrified at the prospect of doing what more than 300 million other Americans do without a thought.
The first thing that comes to mind are the scenes from the animated Pixar movie Wall-E, where the remainder of earth’s population cruise the galaxy on the spaceship Axiom. The passengers are so dependent on the automated ship that they have become obese, too feeble to walk and incapable of caring for themselves. They definitely would not have been able to pump their own gas.
But now the Oregon Legislature moved partially into the 1980s when it recently passed a law allowing rural gas stations to let people pump their own gas. Portlandians are still safe from the ordeal; government continues to protect them from gas pump handles. But others in the supposed rugged rural areas are outraged at the change (because outrage comes easily these days.)
Take a look at some of these Facebook comments from Oregonians in response to the legislature catching up to 1980 America:
“I don’t even know HOW to pump gas and I am 62, native Oregonian … I say NO THANKS! I don’t like to smell like gasoline!” one woman commented.
“No! Disabled, seniors, people with young children in the car need help,” another woman wrote. “Not to mention getting out of your car with transients around and not feeling safe too. This is a very bad idea. Grr.”
“I’ve lived in this state my whole life and I refuse to pump my own gas. This is a service only qualified people should perform. I will literally park at the pump and wait until someone pumps my gas.”
This is really a thing in Oregon. Most of the rest of the country may laugh and mock them (except big-government nanny state New Jersey, the only remaining state with such a law) but people long relying on government-forced service don’t like losing that service. They believe they have an entitlement.
“I think that we are getting tarnished in social media,” Lizzy Acker, a reporter for The Oregonian, told NPR. Well, yes. There’s sort of a reason for that. But Acker is confident in Oregonians ability to actually pump their own gas. “And I think most Oregonians are self-sufficient enough to figure out how to pump their own gas.”
Just read that statement. There may not be a better example of how progressivism breeds dependency on government — more and more power for government over weaker and weaker people. Not surprisingly — to people who understand how capitalism works — Oregon is one of the most expensive states in the union for a gallon of gas.
Oregon’s 56-year gas-pumping law is a cautionary example of how more government regulation and control immediately limits freedoms and breeds dependence and entitlement.
Perhaps one day, all Americans will be free to pump their own gas. But only if they choose leaders with a vision for freedom over governmental dominion.
Darn. You popped my fantasy bubble of what it would be like to have that kind of service. Now I will never think of it the same. Instead of smiling musical service station attendants in my fantasy I now see crazed car killing clowns.
I live in N.J. where we have attendants who pump our gas. At one time they really were attendants who cleaned your windows, checked your oil, and put air in your tires. The stations with the best “service” were the most successful and the lazy ones would fall by the wayside. None of those services are needed with the cars of today. I live in a small town and go to the same station regularly. They let me pump my own gas which I do most of the time. I enjoy getting out of the car and BSing with the guys. It is a part of my day. I would miss my BS time when I get gas.
Yup, it is true. Happened to me one day when we traveled from Bremerton, WA down the coast sight seeing. We stopped at a Cosco and I got out and started to pump the gas and a kid come running over and said I could not do that. I said, what do you mean I cannot pump my gas. He said it was a state law that only he could pump it. I asked what the heck he was talking about. He said that in Oregon you had to be specially trained to pump gas. I asked how old he was and he said 17!!! I started laughing and said, BOY, I am 62 years old. I have been pumping gas since I was 9 or 10 years old. I worked at a gas station as a teenager and pumped thousands of gallons of gas, and you are going to tell me YOU know more about pumping gas than I do??? He said, well sir, if you want gas in Oregon, we have to pump it. I said, hell, do it so I can get out of this pig pen of a state!!
MD had that when it allowed self-serve. That’s typical transition.
Apparently some of these FORCE full-serve - and maybe self-serve? The force it what I oppose.
If people want full-serve more power. But just like Wal-Mart, most people will choose the lowest-common denominator and “DIY” so they can be cheap.
...Perhaps one day, all Americans will be free to pump their own gas....
But, just think of the gas pumping jobs that will be lost. Oh Noes!!
... I will literally park at the pump and wait until someone pumps my gas.”
This person can’t be for real....
You are correct. It’s a liberal living in a liberal fantasy land.
Not even Gobber or Cober Pyle agree
Government creates Eloi.
No need to drive to California — Washington State is 1 mile away (from North Portland).
A round-about.
What year was that?
“None of those services are needed with the cars of today”
Nonsense. You have cars that wash their windows and don’t lose oil or tire air?
Nononono...the reason they aren’t “needed” is because people want it cheap and thus, full serve has been run out of business.
I pulled up to get gas once and an Asian woman asked me if I would pump her gas for her, as her husband forgot and she didn’t know how. I didn’t say what I thought, so I told her I wasn’t going to do it for her but I’d show her how.
>>The point of His story was simple: an arrogant ASS can solidify BOTH party’s against you.
If one man can stop a law by being arrogant, then that shows the level of non-commitment that the Republicans had. Very typical of the Swamp creatures that infest the RNC today.
“I didn’t vote the bill that I supported because the bad man smirked at me. Waah!”
Modern cars monitor their oil levels and tire pressures all by themselves, the latter by US Government mandate.
In fact, many modern cars do not have an oil dipstick at all. And it is very unusual for a modern car to leak or consume oil between oil change intervals.
We lived in CA back in the '70s and when vacation time came, we decided to head up north, taking in the sights. All went well until we crossed the Oregon border and stopped to refuel. I had the nozzle out and pumping when this young guy comes boiling out of the station screaming "Its against the law! Its against the law!" and grabs the nozzle from my hand. There's a WTH moment and then he explains that the attendant has to pump the gas as a safety measure. I asked him if he thought drivers were so dumb they'd spray gas all over the ground. He just repeated "Its against the law!"
We shook our heads and moved on. We were in an RV and headed for one of their oceanside parks. Just before the kiosk, there's this sweet young thing waving us to stop. What now, as there's a guy in the kiosk. It turned out that because we were out of state, we had to pay an extra $2 entry. Another WTH moment, but it was too late in the day to go elsewhere. It wasn't the money, just the idea we had to pay extra.
I told her that CA was part of the Union, so why did we have to pay more? She said so many out-of-staters came up and used the park that we crowded out the locals, "who pay a high fee for an RV license". I asked her if she ever thought that the reason the locals could afford an RV was because us out-of-staters spent a lot of tourist money there. Shrugs.
In Washington I read where the Legislature was thinking of doing the same $2 extra bit. I wrote the governor, telling him I was writing the letter in one of their state parks instead of Oregon's because of their practice and that they were getting our tourist dollars instead because of that practice. Dunno if they ever went through with it, but from then on we went over to Utah and then up.
Sounds like he's related to these people (oldie but goodie).
Yeah, stupidly got rid of dipsticks. I was looking for it on our new car this year - they don’t have one.
Sensors aren’t the same as actually looking at it and filling it. And they don’t always work right. Never mind checking the nature of the fluids to see if anything is happening inside.
Don’t leak? Oh, they will; they ALWAYS do when they age. I say that as both a mechanical engineer and a car-lover.
What car did you look at that didn’t have an oil dipstick?
Yes, but a recent car is unlikely to leak in its average 10 year lifetime at this point. They may leak after that point (though my neighbor has a Corolla that’s 20 and has never leaked a drop) but they don’t leak in that time period.
In any case, the other poster is correct - the attendant would not be needed to nor would they be able to check fluid levels. They would not be needed to check tire pressures. They could scratch up your windshield with disease-carrying ‘cleaner’ (turns out those cleaner reservoirs are wonderful breeding grounds for all kinds of microorganisms), I suppose, but why would you want that?
As much as I like dipsticks and such, the fact remains that the other guy was right and you were wrong - such full service attendants jobs (other than filling your car/spraying gasoline all over it/scratching your paint up/prying open the wrong thing and damaging your vehicle) have been made almost totally superfluous in modern cars.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.