this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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For the first time in more than seven decades, drivers in Oregon are allowed to pump their own gas.

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[–] Got_Bent 100 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

I can't see myself headed back to Oregon any time soon, but good. It was so frustrating trying to get gas behind a line of twenty five cars being "served" by a single slack jawed yokel taking smoke breaks between each car and God help you if you needed gas at night when everybody was closed.

New Jersey gas attendants can be surly, but my experiences driving there at least moved the cars through getting gas efficiently.

[–] HeyJoe 28 points 11 months ago (1 children)

As someone from NJ I agree 100% with surly. Also you can get someone weird or the guy who just wants to talk the entire time. I really do hope this changes one day.

[–] surewhynotlem 15 points 11 months ago

Or the guy who tries to wash your windows then asks for a tip. I'm still annoyed at that, and it was at least 15 years ago.

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[–] ME5SENGER_24 84 points 11 months ago (6 children)

There are some bizarre and pointless laws in this country.

[–] morphballganon 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The way I heard it, if the only people pumping gas were employees, the company didn't have to pay as much liability insurance.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Then why make it a law? Gas stations would all choose to have full service only if it was cheaper.

[–] SCB 38 points 11 months ago (3 children)

It's a law specifically so that these jobs exist. It has nothing to do with liability insurance. Rather, one guy was able to lower his prices by having people pump their own gas and other gas stations didn't like that

Reingold decided to offer the consumer a choice by opening up a 24-pump gas station on Route 17 in Hackensack. He offered gas at 18.9 cents a gallon. The only requirement was that drivers pump it themselves. They didn't mind. They lined up for blocks.

"The other gas station operators didn't like the competition. Someone tried shooting up Reingold's station. But he installed bulletproof glass, so the retailers looked for a softer target - the Statehouse. The Gasoline Retailers Association prevailed upon its pals in the Legislature to push through a bill banning self-serve gas. The pretext was safety, but the Hackensack fire chief had already told all who would listen that Rein- gold's operation was perfectly safe.

https://www.nj.com/opinion/2014/02/the_real_reason_self-service_gas_was_banned_in_nj_corruption_not_safety.html

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[–] Thisisforfun 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Was probably reasonable when they were enacted - before your grandparents met.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

Just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features, it doesn't mean that we too can't not die in a freak gasoline fight accident.

[–] GiddyGap 11 points 11 months ago

And some people will go to extraordinary lengths to defend them.

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 11 months ago (5 children)

The state's 72-year ban on self-service pumps was due in large part to safety concerns for drivers. A state law cited "increased risk of crime and the increased risk of personal injury resulting from slipping on slick surfaces."

What an abomination of an excuse, and I live here.

[–] elbarto777 19 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Well, it may have been true 72 years ago.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That must’ve been one of the most useless regulations. Is that just about jobs? I can’t really imagine it being a security risk issue or any other reason

[–] Sterile_Technique 90 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, jobs. And yeah, it was fucking stupid. Imagine outlawing opening the front door to any business, so that every business would have to hire greeters to generate jobs. Same same.

It's just welfare, but in its cruelest possible form. If we're going to require someone to piss 8 hours of their day away contributing nothing to society (worse than nothing in practice... gassing up in Oregon took FOREVER cuz you'd be stuck waiting for an attendant to serve a backup of 15 cars) just so that person can collect a pay check... why not just give them the pay check with no strings attached? Then they can use that time to improve themselves, or at the very least, not spend their waking hours inhaling gasoline fumes and ruining their knees and such.

Protect people, not jobs. Robots and AI are replacing most of us soon anyway: mandating busywork is NOT the solution to getting food on everyone's table.

[–] MajorHavoc 13 points 11 months ago

So true. And as a bonus, a person receiving a universal basic income can also contribute by getting a useful job, even if just for a few hours a week.

I would rather see someone doing art part time hours than having them make gas lines worse for full time.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Did that also apply to electric cars? Or were you allowed to plug it in yourself

[–] [email protected] 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You can plug it in yourself but you are obligated to have the following conversation every time: https://youtu.be/FzAb8rVqDkY

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago (2 children)

As long as you're a certified electrician, go right ahead. Otherwise, jail.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Time for me and my male model homies to finally have that gasoline fight we've been putting off forever.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Don’t worry guys. Whole continents manage to pump their own gas without Major issues. I’m sure you will manage it too 😉

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

We know. This wasn't a 'citizens needing help' thing. This is a 'propping up an archaic "job creation" law at the annoyance of the citizen' thing.

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[–] ALavaPulsar 22 points 11 months ago (27 children)

Clearly no Oregonians in this thread. Everyone I’ve met in Oregon loves that they don’t have to pump their own gas.

[–] Vonkilington 16 points 11 months ago

Granted I’m not a native Oregoner, but when I lived there I also thought it was stupid. I have not missed that part of Oregon one bit.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (8 children)

If enough people love it, then full service pumps will still hang around as an option. Personally as someone who lived in Minneapolis for 20 years, full service pumps would have been fucking amazing in the winter, but mandating them by law is just stupid.

The fact that full service doesn't exist even in the frozen tundra of MN leads me to believe very few people are actually willing to pay extra for it.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago

Born and raised Oregonian that prefers to pump his own gas. It's about damn time.

[–] doggle 6 points 11 months ago (10 children)

Serious question: why? It seems worse in every way.

[–] aaaa 7 points 11 months ago (8 children)

I don't understand anyone who says there's long waits, because I never have that problem, even when it's crowded. Conversely, when I lived in the midwest, I would have to wait for people to finish taking their sweet time paying inside before I could get to the pump.

Here we have an attendant who handles the pump and most people don't even get out of their car. They just drive away when it's done.

Anyhow, it's not a big deal to me either way. I don't mind that there's people being paid for that, because our gas prices don't seem higher for it compared to our neighbors. But I also wouldn't terribly mind getting out and pumping it myself either

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