# Do you stand by your pump? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647 "2016-11-21T15:21:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/21 "2016-11-21T16:05:24Z")
If there’s something I want from the store I’ll go in and buy it while the pump is going, but otherwise I stand next to the pump. I’ll wash the windows if the squeegee thingy is there, but it almost never is, if I’m getting gas around my 'hood, at least. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/22 "2016-11-21T16:06:40Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Very confused here… either this has never been available on the pumps where I’ve filled up, (Ontario, New York, Mass and New Hampshire,) or I don’t know how to “set it”! New York does not allow the untrained masses (self serve) to use the autofill feature. Trained professionals (full service) are still allowed At least they used to be, don’t know the last time I was at a full service station in NY. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/23 "2016-11-21T16:10:28Z")
Yeah, what the hell else am I going to do? ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/24 "2016-11-21T16:13:55Z")
I usually stand nearby. However, the one and only time the automatic shut off didn’t work, I was standing right next to it, not paying attention. Gas everywhere. And it probably only overflowed for 5 seconds. Got a $10 gift card from the gas station for my trouble. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/25 "2016-11-21T16:18:37Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > In the UK I’ve never encountered anything but the standard (for here) manual pump which goes when you press the trigger and stops when released. As I’ve never had the opportunity to walk away whilst pumping petrol I may be missing something, but my answer is who cares? The time it takes to fill a car’s petrol tank is so short that what are you going to do with that time? I, too, have never encountered the locking variety of nozzle in the UK. Interest sufficiently piqued, my Googling revealed that the locking nozzles are banned in the UK, for safety reasons (fuel spillages, idiots driving off with the nozzle still inserted, etc etc). I have no idea how much of that threat is real. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/26 "2016-11-21T16:32:43Z")
In Ontario, Canada, the mechanism is almost always disabled or removed so you have to hold the handle and squeeze the lever to get gas, though at the Costco pumps, back when I had a membership it was still there. Pay at the pump only, so there is nowhere to go, though I suppose I could have washed windows while the tank was filling. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/27 "2016-11-21T16:36:26Z")
I’m very surprised there hasn’t been a girlfriend joke in here somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/28 "2016-11-21T17:11:36Z")
I stay at the car because there are signs (in Ohio) on the pump that say “Stand by the pump” and I am totally in to following rules. Every so often if needed I clean my windows. But like \*\*JLA \*\*said - what the heck else am I going to do? It only takes like 2 minutes to fill, I’m not going to get back in my car. If I need to go inside I do so after my car is full. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/29 "2016-11-21T17:16:34Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m very surprised there hasn’t been a girlfriend joke in here somewhere. Here it comes. I always see _Do you stand by your pimp?_ ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/30 "2016-11-21T17:22:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m very surprised there hasn’t been a girlfriend joke in here somewhere. No, no, it’s “stand by the pump” not “pump the stand-by.” Pump handle latches are allowed here, but it’s easy to cross the state line and be reminded that the price of 2 cents a gallon less is holding the damned handle. The full-serve-only states (OR, NJ, ??) confuse me. Job creation/featherbedding? I will check things on my smart phone while I wait, if the rear window doesn’t need attention. Every once in a while some one gives me a panicky warning about how it will make the station blow up. If they’re polite, I will tell them it’s almost wholly an urban legend and modern phones don’t create sparks. If they’re stupid or pushy, I just look at them a moment and say, “Well, you’d better stand back, then.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/31 "2016-11-21T17:30:06Z")
I rarely fill my tank all the way, so I’m standing there keeping my eye on the pump until I’ve pumped as much gas as I need. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/32 "2016-11-21T17:35:26Z")
I remember them in SoCal. I’d used them so I could free up my hands to have a cigarette. Just kidding. I mean, I did engage them but then I pretty much still stood right there. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/33 "2016-11-21T17:39:21Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > The full-serve-only states (OR, NJ, ??) confuse me. Job creation/featherbedding? In Oregon, it’s an old full-employment initiative that’s now gained the inertia of tradition. There are some exceptions (commercial fueling and evening pumps in areas of thin population), but mostly it’s just something people like in a state where it rains all the time. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/34 "2016-11-21T17:56:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > As a resident of New Jersey I also get to sit in my car like a gentleman and have someone else pump the gas. There is a full-service gas station near me. The price is the same as the self-serves, but I’ve never purchased gas there. It seems somehow _wrong_ to have someone else pump my gas. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/35 "2016-11-21T18:08:08Z")
I stand on the other side of the car (or sit in the car if it’s cold) and wait for the shutoff. I don’t want to breathe in the gas fumes, and I have never had a problem with the shutoff not working (since I moved to CA 36 years ago). ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/36 "2016-11-21T18:22:25Z")
For a while people blamed cell phones for gas station fires. Then [someone studied the problem](http://www.exponent.com/files/Uploads/Documents/CellPhoneReport.pdf) and figured out that it wasn’t the cell phones - it was people getting in their cars during cold, dry weather to wait while their tank filled. When they slid across their cloth-covered driver’s seat to get back out, they built up a nice static charge on their body; [the discharge to the grounded dispenser nozzle created a spark that ignited fuel vapors.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuZxFL9cGkI&t=0m55s) If you’re mellow like the lady in the video then it’s not the end of the world, but some panicked drivers have a tendency to remove the still-flowing dispenser and wave it around like Patrick Swayze in Point Break, making bad things happen. TL,DR: getting back into your car during refueling presents a risk of fire, unless you’re conscientious enough to deliberately discharge your static buildup somewhere safe after you get out of the car again (before reaching for the dispenser nozzle). ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/37 "2016-11-21T18:25:02Z")
I stand there. It’s really not an issue of the automatic shut-off per se, I just don’t believe in leaving potentially dangerous things unattended. Sometimes I’ll wash the windows while it’s pumping, but getting back into my car or walking away entirely seem unsafe to me. I do have the advantage of living on the West coast my whole life. Our winter worst is in the 30s during the daytime. I might change my attitude in a different climate. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/38 "2016-11-21T19:07:44Z")
It very much depends. If I’m filling my Corolla in normal Austin weather, I clean my windshield and the car is filled before I’m done. If I’m in west Texas and driving a large SUV or (god forbid) a dual tank pick up and it’s 28 degrees with a 20 mile an hour wind blocked by absolutely nothing between me and the New Mexico border, I’ll be huddling in the driver’s seat counting up the minutes until I can get back to civilization. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/39 "2016-11-21T21:15:22Z")
I won’t like, go off to the bathroom or anything, but I won’t necessarily stand next to the pump. I usually do, but sometimes I will wash the windshield (if the water’s not too gross) or sit in the car if it’s very cold. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647/40 "2016-11-21T21:22:30Z")
About half the time I head into the station to get some food or drink, so I set it or jam a cap in it (if it doesn’t have the stop–most have it around here), pop in the store, buy my wares, and finish pumping. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-stand-by-your-pump/772647.md?page=3)