Outraged New Jerseyians demand that government decide for them!

[Opus1]

Not much shocks me anymore. But when people overwhelmingly insist that the government keep depriving them of their own freedom of choice, well, I’m at a loss.

A whopping 1400 freedom hating idiots have complained about a plan to let them pump their own gas. Please, say the idiots, don’t give us the choice. Make the government decide for us! The article reads like something out of the Onion. I’ll quote a few choice segments:

She used to live in New York, where she had no choice.

I think the article has it backwards, unless NY has a law forcing consumers to pump their own gas and prohibiting full-service stations, which I highly doubt. What I assume the article means is that full service is rare-to-nonexistent in NY. That may be so, but it’s that way because of market demands. If enough people want full-service gas stations, they’ll exist. And even if there are no full-service stations, if you’re really that determined, you can hire a chaffeur.

Oregon is the only other state to bar self-service stations, and there are no plans for change. “The governor has concluded that there’s no evidence that throwing thousands of people out of work would have any effect on gasoline prices,” says Lonn Hoklin, spokesman for Gov. Ted Kulongoski. “Oregonians just seem to like the way it is now.”

Tough to believe this is from the state with legalized assisted suicide and medical marijuana. The logic on this baffles me as well–if eliminating thousands of superfluous jobs won’t lower gas prices, then surely adding thousands of superfluous jobs won’t raise gas prices. I suppose the other 48 states in the nation could help their unemployment problems by just making every gas station hire a couple pump jockeys. The money would come out of thin air, and we’d all be better off as a result. At least until we dispensed with cars entirely and all started riding magic unicorns to work.

Critics of a shift to self-service say pumping their own gas would be especially hard on the elderly, could create a safety hazard as inexperienced motorists try to fill their tanks and cost many station attendants their jobs while doing nothing to lower prices.

As evidenced by the numerous elderly people who injure themselves pumping gas in the other 48 states in the nation.

Bill Dressler, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline Retailers Association and Allied Trades, says there are safety concerns. While attendants are trained, many motorists would be novices. “It could be put in the wrong container,” says Dressler, whose group represents about 2,200 of the state’s 3,800 gas stations. There could be “somebody getting out and smoking and they didn’t turn the engine off.”

Attendants are trained? Motorists are novices? Since when did pumping gas become a specialized skill? Should we make laws prohibiting people from wiping their own asses as well, and create an entire profession of Certified Ass Wipers who’ll be sure to do it right?

And what the hell’s the wrong container? It ain’t like having sex where there’s two holes in close proximity to one another. There’s nothing near the gas valve on any car that even the most retarded New Jerseyian could conceivably mistake for the gas tank. Remember folks: residents 48 states in the nation, and virtually every other country in the world manage to pump their own gas without catastrophe. I think New Jersey can handle it too.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go write my own representatives, demanding that they enact legislation preventing me from shaving my own face (can’t put all those barbers out of business), clipping my own fingernails (manicurists), or making snarky Pit posts on the SDMB.

[Frostillicus]

I read this article as well and was amused that there actually exists a place where people cannot pump their own gas. Of course it will lower the price of a gallon of gas if your local station doesn’t have to pay Goober to fill up your tank. Of all the issues for the good people of the Garden State to get in a tizzy over.

[DxZero]

@Frostillicus

I read this article as well and was amused that there actually exists a place where people cannot pump their own gas. Of course it will lower the price of a gallon of gas if your local station doesn’t have to pay Goober to fill up your tank. Of all the issues for the good people of the Garden State to get in a tizzy over.

Gas is typically MUCH cheaper in New Jersey than other surrounding states, however. Go figure.

[What_Exit]

Déjà Vu all over again. We hashed this put a few weeks ago.
Corzine wants NJ to pump their own gas.
How will this lower gas prices?

For small stations removing the attendant will not lower Gas Prices at all. They are currently manned by a single attendant and they will still need a person at the register.
The issue is not about, “We can’t pump our own gas”, it is that we enjoy the fact we do not have to.
There are only two states that do not allow self-service. Oregon is the other state.
As a Side note I have pumped my own gas when I lived in Sunny Southern California and on many long road trips. Of course it is not a major hassle to pump my own gas, especially with most stations now having pay at the pump. We just like this minor little convenience that we have.
We also generally have the cheapest gas prices in the region.

Jim {a Jersey Guy}

[Lissa]

@Opus1

As evidenced by the numerous elderly people who injure themselves pumping gas in the other 48 states in the nation.

Well, I once had to stop a woman from putting gas in her engine. I worked at a little gas station out in the-middle-of-nowhere, and was surprised to see an elderly woman lifting her hood, looking for a place to fit the nozzle. I rushed out to stop her, and she explained in flustered tears that she’d never put gas in the car before. Her husband had always taken care of the vehicles for her-- she’d never even gone to the gas station with him. He’d died the previous month, and this was her first try.

I was surprised that she’d never seen commercials or newsclips with people putting gas into their cars, but she seemed sincere, and very embarassed.

Another elderly man once blew up the gas station. We called him The Professor, because he’d been a physics professor years ago, and was always rushing into the store to tell me about the latest scientific discovery. (Apparently, I was the only person of his acquaintence who was interested in such things.) He was also the most scatter-brained person I ever met. He’d come into the store, in a state of agitated excitement, telling me all about the new developments in this theory or that and could explain them in incredible detail, but would wander away, leaving behind his wallet, the gallon of milk he had purchased, or his hat. I’d always have to chase after him.

One day, he came in and pre-paid for some gas so he wouldn’t forget and was telling me about the earth’s core potentially being a solid instead of molten as had always been assumed. He went out and pumped it, but thought of something else, and came in to chat while his tank was filling. After I told him it had finished, he went out to his little Geo Metro, hopped in and drove away-- forgetting to remove the nozzle. The hose stretched out much further than the manufacturer intended, and I could see him frown as he revved the engine. The back tires actually spun on the pavement.

“PROFESSOR!” I shrieked, running out of the building, waving my arms. I could just see gas flying everywhere once the hose broke, finding a stray spark somewhere, and boom! Luckily, I got to him before anything bad happened.

So, it does happen. Often enough to warrant a law? Not by a long shot.

[crowmanyclouds]

@Opus1

…And what the hell’s the wrong container?..

[

…Approved Containers.
Federal, state, and local regulations make it unlawful to dispense gasoline into unapproved or improperly labeled containers. To be approved, a container must be predominantly red in color and must be able to hold gasoline securely without risk of leaking or breaking. Glass containers are not approved for transporting or storing gasoline. The container also must bear a warning label about the dangers of gasoline. Approved containers made of metal or plastic are available at hardware and automotive supply stores…

](http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/product_safety.shtml)[

…When storing gasoline or kerosene it is important that these fuels be stored in approved containers. Gasoline must be stored in the “red” container and kerosene in an approved “blue” container. Storing gasoline, kerosene or other flammable fuels in non-spill proof containers, soda bottles or milk bottles is illegal and dangerous…A maximum of five gallons of gasoline is permitted to be stored on your residential property, as per the State of New Jersey Uniform Fire Code. This must be stored in a properly labeled container, away from your home in a shed or other detached area…

](Thanks Must do things what people think that you cannot do.)[

…Recently Chevron USA reported several fires which occurred at their service stations as a result of customers filling metal portable gasoline containers (gas cans) in the back of pick-up trucks while the containers were resting on plastic bed liners.

Chevron explained that the insulating effect of the plastic surface prevents the static charge, generated by the gasoline flowing into the gas cans, from grounding. As it builds, the static charge can create a static spark between the gas can and the fuel nozzle. It is then possible for a fire to occur if the spark reaches the gasoline vapors near the open mouth of the gas can. Such a fire could cause severe injury or death to the operator of the gas pump as well as to innocent bystanders and responding fire department personnel…

](http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/newsltrs/psn/psn97-14.htm)

CMC fnord!

[jayjay]

Once they’re done catching you folks up to the rest of the country as far as gas pumping goes, can you New Jerseyans please get them to let people make left turns?

It’s true…you can’t turn left in NJ…

[Thudlow_Boink]

Critics of a shift to self-service say pumping their own gas … could create a safety hazard as inexperienced motorists try to fill their tanks

Now I am terrified. Terrified, I tell you. What if a New Jersey resident drives to my state, and has to stop for gas?

[hawksgirl]

When my band went through Oregon we forgot about the gas thing. We stopped and instantly the freshmen started to go through the drill, gas card, onr of them pumps while the others clean the windows,etc. As soon as they got out and grabbed the nozzle the attendant started screaming at us. Scary and weird.

As for the elderly and such, stations are usually required to do full service for the disabled, so whats the difference?

Maybe they could have like, gas pumping classes, and instructional videos… or PSA commercials…

[What_Exit]

@jayjay

Once they’re done catching you folks up to the rest of the country as far as gas pumping goes, can you New Jerseyans please get them to let people make left turns?

It’s true…you can’t turn left in NJ…

Sir, you exaggerate. You only cannot turn left on many of our divided highways. You try having more cars per square mile than any other state.

Jim

[cuauhtemoc]

@jayjay

Once they’re done catching you folks up to the rest of the country as far as gas pumping goes, can you New Jerseyans please get them to let people make left turns?

It’s true…you can’t turn left in NJ…

Nor can you make U-turns. I once had to drive all the way to Pennsylvania just to turn around.

[Princhester]

@Lissa

Another elderly man once blew up the gas station.

I suspect there’s a “nearly” missing from this.

[Wolfian]

Well, fuck. Here we go. Someone half-hears something about NJ and starts running their mouth, then in come the Dirty Jerz jokes. Look, I don’t mind a good Jersey joke. Heck, as a ex-Jerseyian I love 'em, but really, jokes about jughandles haven’t been fresh since the Limberg baby was kidnapped.

As to the OP, listen: New Jersey has the option of staying with the status quo (warm car in winter as opposed to pumping in the snow) or switching to save a nickel. Which would you choose? So what they can’t pump their own gas? What’s the big fucking deal? This isn’t some macho thing. Its’ not even a lazy thing. The system works and nobody minds it.
Okay, okay, someone tell the HILAROUS one about the toxic waste…

[Miller]

Christ, Wolfian, over-sensitive much?

[NinjaChick]

@Opus1

A whopping 1400 freedom hating idiots have complained about a plan to let them pump their own gas. Please, say the idiots, don’t give us the choice. Make the government decide for us! The article reads like something out of the Onion. I’ll quote a few choice segments:

Okay, having been raised in Jersey (and having fled at the soonest opportunity), I agree that this is mock-worthy as an issue, because it’s sort of stupid; the rest of the country pumps their own gas just fine, etc.

But I would just like to point out that 1400 complaints out of a population of 8,414,350 is hardly indicative of anything other than “A handful of stupid people do exist”. If they got tens of thousands of complaints I’d be a bit more into this, but it’s really an irrelevant number of complaints.

[catsix]

I’ve always hated getting gas in New Jersey because it means sitting there and waiting until the gas jockey notices that I am there and has time to come over to my car and start pumping the gas in. Then usually after it’s done filling up, I have to wait again for the gas jockey to wander back by and take the nozzle out of the car and let me pay - which often involved him or her sticking my credit card into the pump just like I would’ve had I been able to save myself a bunch of hassle and pump my own gas.

I’m also less likely to remember to shut my car off at a gas station in New Jersey because I don’t have that mental push of ‘You’re getting out of the car, so turn it off.’ A couple of times I have only noticed that the car was still running when I tried to start it again after getting the gas and it was already started. It runs pretty quietly, and I never heard any engine noise.

The main reason, though, that I like self serve instead of full serve is that full serve takes so much longer. I just want to get my gas and leave, not sit there for ten extra minutes waiting to be noticed and then waiting to pay.

[Oy]

Gee, we don’t have to pay for being pumped right now, and you’re asking why we don’t want it to change when the price of full service will rise by at least $.50/gal and the price of self-serve won’t drop at all? How dumb are we? :smack: Why, it’s downright unAmerican to not want that “choice”! :rolleyes:

As has already been pointed out, small shops (which is where anyone who cares about the price of gas buys it) only have one person, regardless of whether it’s full service or self-serve. This isn’t a matter of wanting the government to decide for us. It’s a matter of wanting to continue the convenience we have always enjoyed. Choice, my ass! I pay less for gasoline than anyone I know who doesn’t live in NJ, *and * I get full service! Why in heaven’s name would I *want * to change that?

[CalMeacham]

I was surprised to learn, when I started my new job over a year ago, that you can’t pump your own gas here. And I live and work in Massachusetts!

Local ordinance.

[Cheesesteak]

@Oy!

I pay less for gasoline than anyone I know who doesn’t live in NJ, *and * I get full service! Why in heaven’s name would I *want * to change that?

Because people who don’t live here and aren’t affected by this rule in the slightest bit are up in arms about it, that’s why.

The only reason Corzine suggested it is because of high gas prices. AFAIC, the only action we should be taking to lower the price of gas, is to reduce consumption of gas. Anything else is a bandaid to help feed our overindulgence. For that reason alone, I’m not in favor of the change, even though I also prefer self serve for the same reasons as catsix.

Screw the full-serve issue, I just want them to fix the damn signs.
[sub]I swear I get lost more often and make more wrong turns in NJ than anywhere else I’ve ever driven, mostly because the road signs are placed to be as confusing as possible[/sub]

[Jackmannii]

I saw this article yesterday and was amused by the ninnies waving their hands in the air over the dread prospect of New Jerseyites pumping their own gas.

You’d think the rest of the country was rife with explosions, customers constantly reeking with gasoline odors, dazed elderly people unable to figure out the mysteries of gas pumps, Ninja Motorists skulking around with the Wrong Containers etc.

You want the status quo, fine - don’t go pretending there are horrible dangers lurking if the system is changed.

And by the way, N.J. gas prices are (relatively) low because state fuel taxes are about the third lowest in the nation. You don’t want to save a little more money - fine by me.