Me? Pump Gas? But I’m From Jersey!
Friday, April 04, 2008 at 12:00pmI rented a car during my trip to Florida. This meant that, at some point, I was going to have to pump gas. Being a Jersey girl, this is an unfamiliar experience for me. As I drove to the gas station yesterday I became convinced that I would make some sort of catastrophic mistake and end up like the guys from Zoolander.
Obviously it all went fine.
Just thought I’d share. People get crazy when I mention that we’re not allowed to pump our own gas here, so I figured I’d open up the topic for discussion.
sandra on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Sorry I must have missed this topic in the past, but why are you not allowed? Really?
Michael on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Now I’m picturing you on The Amazing Race putting diesel in by mistake. They’d show you pumping, then maybe the inside of the tank cover, then some wacky sound effect.
freakgirl on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Sandra - http://ask.yahoo.com/20040715.html
Michael - HA!!!
Jen in OH! on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 1:07 pm
It was so crazy dry in AZ I always had this irrational fear of static electricity causing a spark and an explosion. Then I’d remember the 70s when the guys who would pump gas at the full service islands for my mom in FL would actually smoke while they were doing it and I would chill.
freakgirl on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 1:13 pm
My cousin used to smoke while we got gas and it would give me a heart attack.
shannon b. on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 2:09 pm
When I first moved to Oregon it bothered me so much to have someone else pump my gas that I’d drive across the river to Washington. I’ve lived here for four years now, and it still makes me uncomfortable.
GeekBoy on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 2:59 pm
The town I grew up in was right on the NJ/Pennsylvania border, and I knew a lot of people who would make a point of driving across the river to get gas for this very reason.
Grey Rainbow on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I live in PA and make a point of buying NJ b/c it’s cheaper and they pump it for you.
I didn’t even learn how to pump my own gas until I was about 26! How embarrassing!!!!
Jamie on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I know! People have no idea what to make of it, the fact that we’re not ALLOWED to pump our own gas here. It seems pretty obvious with all the liability issues that could arise from it. Besides, if you’ve grown up in Jersey and never had to pump your own, why would you want to? I briefly lived in PA for a few months when I was 21, and I hated pumping my own gas. Especially on a really miserable rainy day.
And here’s another branch of this topic: Have you ever heard of tipping the gas attendant? I don’t mean at an interstate service station or something, I mean at a regular gas station here in NJ. Someone told me a few years ago that I was rude for never tipping at the pump, but I’d never even heard of such a thing. I’ve never seen anyone do it, either. I could see maybe at one of the interstate stations where you have the option of full-serve or self-serve, if you choose full then maybe it’d make sense to tip. I don’t know… so now I ask other people from NJ if they tip at the pump. Do you?
freakgirl on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I never tip at the pump. I remember my friend’s boyfriend used to tip at Christmas-time, but I never do. Sometimes I feel weird about it, but it just seems odd.
sandra on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 3:30 pm
You NJ bitches are spoiled rotten!
freakgirl on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 3:34 pm
And don’t you forget it.
GeekBoy on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 3:36 pm
After mostly NOT living in New Jersey from age 18 to 33, I continue to be annoyed by the fact that I can’t pump my own gas. It’s one of the reasons I look forward to road trips.
Genevieve on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Did you guys ever see this Daily Show piece?
http://www.thedailyshow.com/vi.....mp-my-ride
freakgirl on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 4:49 pm
“Trained from infancy to pump gas” - that’s awesome.
maddie on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I always bragged about that to my friends in college in PA, coming from NJ, enjoyed watching the shock on my out-of-state friends faces when we had to get gas on road trips to NJ. I had to have someone from PA give me gas pumping lessons. Pay inside and then pump? What? Too confusing!
Now karma being what it is, I haven’t lived in NJ since then…and now resent the fact that it is cheaper and you don’t have to pump it.
Maggie on Friday, April 04, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I used to pump gas for my dad when I was a kid, I thought it was so cool! Then I started driving and winter came and it was so cold!
Tricia on Saturday, April 05, 2008 at 2:14 am
Every time we drive to or through Oregon (from Washington), we always make a point to buy gas before crossing the boarder to avoid the expense? awkwardness? to tip or not to tip? of having someone else pump the gas. It’s probably very silly, especially as I think gas was cheaper there than it is here on our last road trip…
Yeti on Sunday, April 06, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I’d happily exchange gas pumping privileges if I could buy a bottle of scotch on a Sunday! Why did I ever leave Jersey?
freakgirl on Sunday, April 06, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Word.
Shannon on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 8:01 am
I always tip if I’m too much of a bonehead to fill up before a holiday and I need gas on a day that someone should have off. I also have tipped in extreme weather, like in the middle of a snow storm or if it is really frigid.
freakgirl on Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 8:02 am
That sounds reasonable to me.
Emily on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 10:51 am
Woohoo, personally I hate bothering to get out of the car and pump my own gas. I guess it’s because us fellow jersey-ians have been brought up to sit back and relax while the gas guy does all the work. And congrats on not ending up like the guys from Zoolander!