# Things you're shocked to find out some people don't know. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353 "2010-01-10T02:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/421 "2010-01-22T19:53:03Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Massachusetts has lower taxes than somebody? :eek: Despite the “Taxachusetts” reputation, Massachusets ranks from [seventh](http://www.statemaster.com/graph/eco_tot_tax_bur-total-tax-burden-per-capita) to [twenty-third](http://www.retirementliving.com/tax_burden_2008.pdf) in per-capita tax burdern among the US states, depending on how you do the ranking (particularly whether you average in taxes paid by businesses instead of individuals.) Most people would be surprised by the [US’s rank](http://www.photius.com/rankings/tax_burden_country_ranks_2009.html), too: most Americans believe their taxes are incredibly high. (Of course, we don’t get universal health care for our taxes, either). ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/422 "2010-01-22T20:16:05Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The gas station’s profit from a gallon of gas is mere pennies, simply not enough to cover the labor costs of a free attendant. I’m shocked people don’t know this. When I was a new driver and we still had some mixed (self/full) service gas stations around the price for Full Service was ~.10/g higher than Self Service. That .10/g would presumably pay for the attendant. This was in the mid 80’s and gas was still just above and below $1/g so that was not an insignificant amont. I don’t think I ever shelled out the extra cash to have someone else pump the gas. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/423 "2010-01-22T20:32:33Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > My friend: “Guess what I just learned in my [college] astronomy class.” > Me: “What?” > My friend: “The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.” > Me: \ “You JUST learned that?” > > [SIZE=“1”]All right, he was my boyfriend.[/SIZE] I forget why, but when my friend and I were about 15 we were deciding which way to walk to get to the East side of town. It was about 9AM. Me: We need to head this way, going towards the sun. Friend: Why? Me: To go East. Friend: The sun is in the East? Me: In the morning, yes. Friend: Well, which direction will be tomorrow morning? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/424 "2010-01-22T20:47:45Z")
> [@robby](#): > > That’s because the fuel taxes in NJ are significantly lower than those in the adjoining states you mention. > > In January 2010, the fuel taxes by state are as follows: > NJ: 32.9 cents/gallon > NY: 63.0 cents/gallon > PA: 50.7 cents/gallon > > [Cite](http://www.api.org/statistics/fueltaxes/). (Note: these figures include state and federal taxes.) > > I’m shocked to find out that some people don’t know that the primary reason for the disparity in gas prices for adjoining states is the difference in state fuel taxes. 😉 > > (This is why I always fill my tank if I travel into Massachusetts, where the fuel tax is almost 20 cents/gallon lower than Connecticut.) Oh, I knew the reason. No one was more upset than NYers who fill up in Jersey when there was talk of increasing the taxes to cover shortfalls. I’m surprised by the PA number, because where I visit PA (near Philly), which is mostly self-serve, stations have competitive (and on rare occasions lower) prices than the portion of NJ I pass to get there. That would lead me to believe that manning gas pumps leads to about an 18¢ per gallon price increase (small sample size, anecdotal data, etc. apply). And, like you, if I know I’m passing through NJ, I’ll run the tank down to fumes before entering, fill up, and then top off before leaving. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/425 "2010-01-22T21:57:27Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > It’s built into the price, just like in Oregon. Part of the reasoning for the law there (at least) is that “studies” concluded that having an attendant doesn’t significantly raise the cost of gas. It’s complete bull. Nope, it’s not bull, it is a fact. I live in Oregon where an attendant is required and the price of gas is lower than accross the river in Washington where you have to pump your own. Oregon prices are much lower than in California. Look at the price of gas in New Jersey compared to the surrounding states, also lower. The impression that having a gas attendant raises the price of fuel at the pump cannot be supported by any actual facts. AAA gas prices by state: [http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/sbsavg.html](http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/sbsavg.html) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/426 "2010-01-22T22:14:21Z")
Between the varying taxes and vastly different levels of land rent and general business costs (including labor itself), a list of gas prices by state doesn’t mean anything. (I’m from Oregon, BTW.) ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/427 "2010-01-22T22:20:49Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > Nope, it’s not bull, it is a fact. I live in Oregon where an attendant is required and the price of gas is lower than accross the river in Washington where you have to pump your own. Oregon prices are much lower than in California. Look at the price of gas in New Jersey compared to the surrounding states, also lower. > > The impression that having a gas attendant raises the price of fuel at the pump cannot be supported by any actual facts. > > AAA gas prices by state: > > [http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/sbsavg.html](http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/sbsavg.html) This was all explained above. It’s largely a difference in taxes, and your own gas price chart makes it clear that an attendant does, in fact, raise the price of fuel. California: Average Price Per Gallon for Regular: $3.038, Gas Taxes: 65 cents Washington: $2.89, 55.9 cents Oregon: $2.806, 43.4 cents Kansas: $2.619, 43.4 cents Idaho: $2.702, 43.4 cents Where do you think much of the difference comes in between Oregon and Kansas or Idaho, which have the same gas tax? The attendant. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/428 "2010-01-22T22:22:28Z")
Some of the price difference is due to pipeline and distribution isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/429 "2010-01-22T22:27:10Z")
> [@otternell](#): > > Some of the price difference is due to pipeline and distribution isn’t it? Yep, and rent and so on, which is why I said “largely”. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/430 "2010-01-22T22:34:25Z")
check - I missed the qualifier. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/431 "2010-01-23T02:34:40Z")
It’s funny to read about people travelling to a different state to fill up for gas. If you live in the middle of Texas, it’s not possible to _reach_ another state without filling up again at least once. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/432 "2010-01-25T14:31:38Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > It’s funny to read about people travelling to a different state to fill up for gas. If you live in the middle of Texas, it’s not possible to _reach_ another state without filling up again at least once. Yeah, I’m originally from Texas, and traveling to another state was a rare event when I lived there. Now that I live in New England, I can drive through a half-dozen states in just a few hours driving. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/433 "2010-01-27T06:04:21Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Yeah, I’m originally from Texas, and traveling to another state was a rare event when I lived there. > > Now that I live in New England, I can drive through a half-dozen states in just a few hours driving. Reminds me of one of the reasons I gave when Europeans asked me why I was so excited to be over there. I pointed out that say you’re in Berlin – you can get on a train and seven hours later, you can be in Denmark, or Poland, or the Czech Republic. I get on a train and seven hours later, I’m in Rimouski. I won’t even leave the province for another four hours. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/434 "2010-01-27T06:11:07Z")
One night I was driving my car when another one pulled up behind me. I reached up and flipped the lever on the rear view mirror to dim their lights. My friend asked why I did that. I told him to dim their headlights because they were in my eyes. He said he always though that lever was used to remove the rear view mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/435 "2010-01-27T13:39:55Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Reminds me of one of the reasons I gave when Europeans asked me why I was so excited to be over there. I pointed out that say you’re in Berlin – you can get on a train and seven hours later, you can be in Denmark, or Poland, or the Czech Republic. I get on a train and seven hours later, I’m in Rimouski. I won’t even leave the province for another four hours. Here in Houston, you can drive more than nine hours & be in…[Lubbock](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&source=hp&q=houston%20to%20lubbock&aql=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl). (Forget the train.) ---
**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:** [January 27, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/436 "2010-01-27T14:23:24Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Reminds me of one of the reasons I gave when Europeans asked me why I was so excited to be over there. I pointed out that say you’re in Berlin – you can get on a train and seven hours later, you can be in Denmark, or Poland, or the Czech Republic. I get on a train and seven hours later, I’m in Rimouski. I won’t even leave the province for another four hours. They have slow trains in Europe too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/437 "2010-01-27T22:30:01Z")
Not sure if these have been covered – I don’t have time to read the whole thread, nor do a search. Many folks think Africa is a country. Many think the main language in Mexico is “Mexican”. And, disturbingly, I was surprised when a well-educated person close to me was unaware that there are still thousands of very powerful nuclear weapons deployed in the world, mainly in the US and Russia, and that they could be activated quite rapidly, at any time at all, really. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/438 "2010-01-28T13:54:55Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Many think the main language in Mexico is “Mexican”. When I moved to the States from England one of the first questions I was asked at school was, “what language do y’all speak in England?” This happened _twice_. Now, the askers were 10th graders, but still. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/439 "2010-01-28T15:31:00Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Many folks think Africa is a country. A few years back, there was an especially hilarious episode of the American version of _Whose Line Is It Anyway?_ where the host Drew Carey [slipped on that one](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=site%3Ayoutube.com+drew+carey+africa&aq=f&aql=&aqi=&oq=). > [@](#): > > Many think the main language in Mexico is “Mexican”. AFAIK, the Spanish spoken in Mexico is different from the Spanish spoken in Spain. Not enough to be considered an entirely different language, obviously, but there are distinctions. Possibly someone with more than my five words of the language can comment–is it comparable to, say, the difference between American English and British English? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353/440 "2010-01-28T16:00:37Z")
One of my uncles asked my SIL if they have television in her native country of El Salvador. Then again, he’s pretty much an all-around moron. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-shocked-to-find-out-some-people-dont-know/524353.md?page=23)