If I can engage an auto-flow, I still stand nearby to ensure the nozzle stays in the filler.
My filler is nearly vertical at the opening, and the weight of the modern nozzle makes me nervous about leaving it unattended.
But I will wash windows after fueling.
When I was 29, I moved away from hellish weather.
Eat your hearts out, residents of fly-over territories.
Hey, now, that’s just crazy talk. You’re not supposed to get back in the car! I suppose now you’re going to tell us there’s never been a catastrophic explosion when you got back out and pulled the nozzle out of the tank, hmm??? :dubious:
In New York City, you really don’t have much of a choice. All the gas stations remove those locks that in many other places allow you to put on the pump and walk away.
When I can walk away, I usually go into the mini-mart to use the bathroom or get a soda or something similar.
Those East Coasters… in New Jersey, they won’t even let you pump your own gas!
(I lived there for six years… it’s great in the winter, annoying at all other times.)
I read it as “pimp” for about 20 posts and I was very confused.
For some reason, all of the latches seem to have disappeared over the past couple of months here in Northern Virginia. Now not only do I have to stand there while the gas is being pumped, I actually have to bend down and physically hold the pump lever or it won’t work which means I can’t even stretch my legs by walking around or put my hands in my pockets if it’s cold. I don’t know why they are suddenly doing this except that they all hate me.
Most my life in MA the clips were removed by law, users had to be holding the handle. This did not apply to full service stations.
I’ve always cheated and wedged my wallet in and washed my windows, my windows need washing more when it’s cold out so sitting in the car was never really considered. If the windows are clean I can check the oil or something.
MA recently rescinded the gas lock lock law so as pumps get replaced they’ll have the locks again. The gas station I use most often has locks, that’s part of the reason I choose them.
I stand by the pump except when washing windshields. A few years ago a driver next to me went into the truck stop while doing this and it overflowed. I noticed it and shut it off. The guy rushed out to move his car because his young kid was still in the car.
Bout time.
I ran in to the store to buy some gum and when I came back out the automatic thing wasn’t so automatic. $75 worth of gas on the ground. This was in Muskogee, OK, maybe 12 years ago. So, I stand.
New York doesn’t allow hands free pumping, so you have to stay at the nozzle.
As a resident of one of the 48 States Other Than New Jersey Or Oregon, I’ve always found the ban on self-service gas to be weird, but–these professional pump jockeys y’all are forced to employ just stick the damn gas nozzle in your car, engage the little doohickey, and then wander off??? :smack:
Gosh. I bet it takes a rigorous training program to get certified for that job.
If you ever visit my state, bring a pillow so you can sleep while you’re waiting. It might take a while, like forever, and you might be waked up by a cop who wants to know what you are doing sleeping at the pump, since there is no attendant service and you look like a vagrant.
I stand by the pump. It has nothing to do with walking away being illegal, I’m a shameless scofflaw.
All too often, the pump shuts off prematurely, then when you mosey back to it, you have to waste more time starting it again and waiting for it to fill, while the driver in the car behind you blows his horn at you and other customers, loving the schadenfraude, hoot insults and crude gestures at you, or just roll their eyes. Not the kind of attention I try to attract, no matter how cool it looks when it works properly and I can glance around at the admiring spectators.
Stand by your pump,
Don’t got no clip to cling to,
No warm car seat to sit in,
When nights are cold and lonely
Show the world you live in New York
Keep pumping all the gas you can
In New Jersey it would be pumped by the man
Why they remove our clips we can’t understand
Stand by your pump…
Yes, this. I like it. A lot. When I lived other places, which did not offer the refined option of having the nice young person pump your gas, I would either stand by the pump (in nice weather) or clean the windows or buy something in the shop or huddle in my car (in bad weather).
I have never had the auto-shutoff fail, except in the opposite direction. That is to say, it will pump 3 ounces of gas when I need 10 gallons and then refuse to operate. This is annoying.
I urge you to try it. It’s actually really nice not having to schlep in and out of your car, especially if weather conditions aren’t great. When I’m traveling out of state, I really miss it. It’s definitely not wrong. It oh so right. 
The thing I just hated about it is if you stopped off the Turnpike or something you had to wait for them to pump the other people’s gas before they got to you. Which took a while during the rush. So you’d be sitting there thinking, “I could be doing this myself.”
Ironically, I also hated how quickly they rushed you outta there. In Michigan when you pump your gas it’s perfectly acceptable to run into the convenience store or use the bathroom with your car parked at the pump. There are usually not lines. In NJ people flip their shit if you dawdle. And the stores are hardly “stores” anyway.
But still, not having to get out of the car in subzero temperatures was lovely.
It’s hard out here for a pump.
Hmm, I hadn’t even noticed. Guess I’m just used to standing by the pump.
While we’re on the subject, is there anything about gas pumps that would make them work slower in really cold weather? Like really cold. I think it was last winter; I met some friends for dinner, knew I’d have to get gas before the drive home. The temperature was in the low single digits, at best. I could have probably stayed out there long enough if the pump had been running at full speed, but it wasn’t. I don’t know why, but it was pumping at maybe a quarter of what it should. Got less than half a tank before my hands couldn’t take any more.
Do you people not keep track of your gas mileage? Among other advantages, it can alert you to certain mechanical problems.
That’s why I get back into my car while the gas is pumping. I’m writing down the odometer reading.
After I get out of the car again, I always touch the trunk keyhole before touching the gas nozzle. It’s a very quick, convenient way to protect against the small possibility of danger.
Nope.