As a life-long Oregonian, I have no problem at all letting someone else stand out in the rain and cold and pump gas for me.
Being a first-class mechanical klutz, the last time I visited relatives in Washington I managed to screw up and get a cup or so of gasoline on my pants. Had to go into the station’s minimart to change them.
And in answer to scm1001 , not generally. Though sometimes, if they hustle and wash windshields as well, I’ll tip them a buck for luck.
Chiming in as an Oregonian who has worked in the Legislature.
Just about every other year (since we have biannual sessions) a bill is proposed to repeal the no-self-serve law. It has a lot of opponents each time, and dies pretty quickly. The biggest opponent, by far, is the AARP. The motorcycle bill was indeed passed in the 2001 session in the wee hours. It actually had a fair amount of opposition, as it was seen by some to be a precursor to repealing the whole law.
Oregon has a fair number of unique (or nearly so) laws. We were the first to have deposits on returnable bottles. First in assisted suicide. One of only two states to not have a sales tax. First to require helmets on motorcycles.
–
Justin
On the subject of Oregon (but not the OP)…
What is it with Oregon drivers? Whatever the posted speed limit is, it seems that most people are driving 5 mph under it. The people in the left lane (the ones who are doing the speed limit) don’t like to move right for faster traffic (the ones with California or Washington plates). In L.A., if you’re not doing 70 you’d better be in the slow lane. (Of course that applies to times when traffic is not exceptionally heavy.) In Oregon, people seem to like to drive under the speed limit. Why? And in Portland there is a six-lane freeway. The speed limit is 55. It’s just bizarre.
This practice is ostensibly an argument against letting people fuel their own cars. Depending on the outside temperature, if your tank is filled all the way up to the cap, the gas can expand and leak out before you drive far enough to use it up.
I know that in AL, it is against the law to pump gas if you are under 16 and unsupervised.
I refuel at the beginning of a trip, rather than at the end. Since I live 43 miles from work, that extra two gallons is a trip home. Also, when I’m on the road even in the hottest weather I’ll use up any fuel before it has a chance to expand and escape. And as I said, 20-40 extra miles can mean a lot in the desolate stretches.
Certainly people should not allow their tanks to overflow; but that should not stop them from topping off the tanks when there is no danger of overflow.
DAAAAAMMNNN… I passed by Oregon from Vancouver, BC to get back home to LA. I stopped for gas and got the gas pum like I usually do here in LA and this scary old geezer with a beard and flashing insane eyes grabbed the gas handle form me and angrily said that was his job and I shouldnt take his job away from him. I thought Oregonians were strange then but now you tell me its illegal to pump your own gas there, I really think theyre WACKO!
Heck, go to West Van sometime-- where there are no self-serve stations.
I had to supervise a gas jockey when I got gas. It was the first time he was filling up a motorcycle, and he pulled out prematurely.
The guy who gets gas all over his motorcycle has a good point. I do not have a motorcycle, I am probably going to get one soon though. Service station attendants in Louisiana cannot fill up a 5 gallon can with gasoline, however. One that I went to spilled gas all over the can and the ground before he realized what he was doing. But never mind that.
In Louisiana, there are stations that have full-serve and self-serve pumps at one station. Full-serve gas tends to be a few pennies more than the self-serf gas. And at these stations, the attendants have been known to ring up the full-serve price for the self-serve customers, collect the money, and then back that sale off of the register, and ring it up as self-serve. Do this a couple of million times per year, and the attendant makes a considerable bundle.
I always go self-serve, and I would probably watch the attendant like a hawk in New Jersey or Oregon if I went ther.
Perhaps you haven’t been paying very much attention – the price for the gas is the same, but there is an additional service charge for the full-service pumps. I haven’t owned a car in Regina for years, but a few years ago I believe it was something on the order of an extra 1 cent per litre.
Here in CA, “full service” costs an additional twenty cents or so per gallon. I have a 20 gallon tank and typically fill it when it needs about 18 gallons. That’s an additional $3.60 per tank just so I don’t have to pump it myself. Since I’m too cheap to pay that, I haven’t noticed if “full service” includes checking the oil and fluids, cleaning the windscreen, etc.
Holy crap. When I saw the thread title I thought it was a joke. I’m 23, lived in about 7 different states and never heard of such a thing. I bet I haven’t even seen more than a dozen full-service stations in my life
Okey dokey.
One thing that has always struck me is that gas is cheaper in New Jersey than anywhere else I have ever been. I have seen, as you cross the border between NJ and NY the price jump 20c a gallon. And that is between pump service in NJ and self service in NY. You often get another 20c increment if you want pump service in NY (which I never do).
In Montreal, I usually get gas at a full service station that is directly across the street from a self service gas only station and they are nearly always at the same price (occasionally, they differ by 1/2 c a liter). Since the full service station does all my repairs, I would continue even if there were a systematic difference. From comments the owner has made to me, I gather that selling gas does not generate a significant, but is used mainly to get people used to driving in there.
Perhaps I can’t drive yet. 
The biggest reason for the jump in pump prices between NJ and NY may be the diff between NJ’s 14.5 cents/gal state tax and NY’s 32.35 cents.
We Oregonians NEED people to pump our own gas for us.
One time I went over to Washington and tried to pump my own gas. I spilled gasoline on myself and my jacket smelled awfull. That’s why I FULLY my state’s prohibition on pumping ones own gas.
So can those of us who don’t find pumping gas to be any harder then buying a bag of chips opt out?
Blalron–See how attractive it would have been to have me hop out of the car and pump the gas, thus sparing you the tragic jacket-soiling?
As a side note, you can, and in fact must, pump your own gas in Oregon if you use those commercial card-lock gas stations. (For company trucks and such.)