# Outraged New Jerseyians demand that government decide for them!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outraged-new-jerseyians-demand-that-government-decide-for-them/357202>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [May 18, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outraged-new-jerseyians-demand-that-government-decide-for-them/357202 "2006-05-18T00:54:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outraged-new-jerseyians-demand-that-government-decide-for-them/357202/61 "2006-05-19T09:09:23Z")

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> [@Opus1](#):
>
> 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…

Yes, but if the barber shaves all men who do not shave themselves, and no others, then who will shave the barber?

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**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outraged-new-jerseyians-demand-that-government-decide-for-them/357202/62 "2006-05-19T13:52:15Z")

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> [@Dog80](#):
>
> What year did this happen? Nowadays fuel hoses have breakaway couplers fitted.
> 
> Also idiot-drives-away-with-fuel-hose-still-attached is very common. You probably didn’t work at that gas station for too long.

I worked there back in 1995, and I think I worked there for about two years. The station itself was pretty old. (They were the kind with levers at the side you have to lift to make the pump start running. Many people had never seen an antique like this and would stand there staring at it, perplexed until we’d holler out the door to move the lever, or come in to tell us our pump was broken. Yes, there was a sign with instructions right next to the lever.)

The owners didn’t have the kind of money invest in new equipment unless it was mandated by law. They’d owned it for years before I started working there, and just that year had put in an electronic monitor inside the store. They were losing a shit-load of money because people had figured out they could pump half a tank, put the lever down and then lift it again to reset the dials back to zero, and only pay a few bucks for a full tank.

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**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outraged-new-jerseyians-demand-that-government-decide-for-them/357202/63 "2006-05-21T03:36:21Z")

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Pumping your own gas isn’t a brain breaker. Back in the bad old days, you’d remove the nozzle from the pump, flip the start lever and twist the reset. With practice, you could do all three with the nozzle tip.

Then again, I’m citing the era when windshields were washed, oil level and tire pressure was checked, and fuel was 26.9¢ per gallon. And we liked it! 😛

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**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outraged-new-jerseyians-demand-that-government-decide-for-them/357202/64 "2006-05-22T01:48:44Z")

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> [@Opus1](#):
>
> . . . until we dispensed with cars entirely and all started riding magic unicorns to work.

Now _that’s_ a cool idea!

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