So to all you ohioans at the gas station...

Do you still have gas station attendants?

So I was vacationing with my Family in Hilton Head, SC but I had to leave today to drive back home to NC due to work. So I left my family there and came home by myself. I stop to get gas somewhere in SC at a Pilot gas station. As i'm filling up this guy in a gold mini van pulls up directly across the pump from me (if we both were looking at the pump we would be looking at each other)

So here I am a 31 year old male in ray bans, a white tee, athletic shorts and flip flops leaning on my vehicle while pumping my gas. As he gets out of his van, he says "hey Buddy" to which I kinda cock my head in his directions and his son is there too, so I think he is talking to his son. He proceeds to pop his gas tank lid and then I hear "just fill it up for me" again I cock my head toward him thinking he is talking to his son and then look back at my gas pump. Then I see that he and his son leave to go inside and his other son is passed out in the front seat. So I assume he had someone else on the other side of the pump paying for the gas getting ready to pump....NOPE! Then it dawns on me, this guy thinks i'm a gas attendant and is wanting me to fill up his mini van. So I did the only right thing to do. I filled my vehicle with gas, put up the pump and drove away with his mini van sitting there waiting for gas. as i leave i see his plate and he is from Ohio.

One of two things probably happened after I left, 1- He came out and thought I was a jackass for not pumping his gas or 2- He realized what a jackass he was for asking a total stranger to pump his gas.

Is this common up north to have gas attendants? Ive lived in the south my whole life and we have never had them and just figured that was a thing of the past like the Model T I kinda just laughed about the whole situation once I got on the road and had to call my wife about it.

 

How old are you? Id be very supersized if you "Never" had attendants down there....They were at almost every gas station here in Washington and in every state I ever visited until some time after the oil embargo of the 70's.. Including my vist to Florida which is after all in the "South"

I use to be one. Actually loved the job. Had a gal pull in one day with nothing on but a large meshed fish net dress.She might as well had worn cellophane.. She had the cleanest windows in town by the time I was done with that car.

 

Jersey is the only place I know of that has an attendant in every gas station and I visited Ohio a few months ago and I pumped my own gas. Maybe he has a local guy that pumps for him. There are a few places near me that have attendants but it's not common.

 

Nope. We pump our own gas in Ohio. NJ as far as I know is the only state with full service.

 

Doesn't Oregon also require an attendant to pump gas? Last time I was there a few years ago, you couldn't pump your own gas.

 

They still have full service stations in Canada. I stopped for gas one time in this small town in Ottawa when I was driving to New York one year, and I go to get the pump and these two guys run up and start doing all the things they do in a full service, gassed me up, windows washed, tire pressure, the whole nine yards. I thought it was great, and still wish we had those in the states. Or at least the states I'm in.

OP your story had my dying, that's hilarious he did that

 

You can have full service everywhere. But New Jersey is mandatory by state law. You cannot pump your own gas there.

With the demise of the small, privately owned "service station", and the proliferation of the big chain "convenience stores", I'm surprised there are any full service gas stations anywhere outside of Jersey.

 

We're not allowed to pump our own gas here either. Only high school drop-outs, social rejects, and lackeys are qualified to do so.

Whenever I go out-of-state it's always challenging to try to remember how to do it.

 

31, as far back as I can remember we have always pumped our own gas. I just thought it was an odd remark and I thought well maybe they still have places that pump for you up there. He was definitely going home from vacation that van was loaded down.

 

There are still some in CT and NY but they are few and far between...I have family in Jersey and absolutely despise not being able to pump my own gas...oh well th cost of it makes it worth it

 

They had full service stations in Costa Rica when I went last month. I've never been to one and had no idea the protocol. I assumed you had to tip the fella, and so I did. Is this true (In Jersey)?

 

I hate Ohio, what a useless state besides Cedar Point of course.

 

Cedar Point rocks!

 

I can only think of one station remaining among the many I've been to in the past few years that has a full service option.
That's a bit more west than Ottawa but even in more distant travels I can't recall any. Just saying in case, y'know, not pumping their own gas swayed someones vacation destination.

Ottawa is a city, our capital, it can't have a town in it. Just being picky.

 

Pretty near every station in New England is pump-yer-own.

But my go-to station about 4 miles away is full service staffed by a bunch of characters who know which car I'm driving needs which fuel and have the pump handle at the ready before I come to a stop.

And we usually can carry a conversation for the few minutes to a fill-up, which doesn't suck in this era of practiced aloofness in the service sector...

Cheers!

 

I used to pump gas for 3.35 / hr. Checked oil and wipers too while the gas was flowing.

If you drove off without your gascap, sorry about that, I had quite a collection by the time I quit Especially you guys with the fill tube behind the license plate, you guys always scooted before I got back there again.

 

Crap sorry man, I misspoke, I meant to say Ontario. Not sure why I wrote Ottawa in there, I do know the difference lol

Thanks for the correction

 

I'm surprised a young man in sunglasses, white T, shorts, and flip-flops wouldn't help a guy out!

Maybe this guy just asks anybody he parks next in case some of them actually pours for him? He might be on to something! Maybe he gets his gas poured for him sometimes.

 

Seconded. I lived there for year for work. Hated it. In terms of worst places in the world its like 1. Kuwait 1.a. Ohio

 

Here in Wisconsin, generally you have to pre-pay inside or use a credit card.

A couple local stations have pumps so old they don't accept cards; if the power is on, they'll pump. There's an attendant there but they don't fill; they just accept the money. One station only accepts cash; also, he only stocks a gasonline-only fuel, no ethanol. As he calls it, "No Blends."

Since he doesn't accept plastic, I prepay about $300 ahead and "charge" the gas to that account; when it gets low, I replenish it.

The best part is that his prices always match the lowest in town, *and* I don't have to get the lower-mileage ethanol crap.

 

Do you look like this?

 

I grew up in Ohio (got my DL in very early 80's) and always pumped my own gas! I rarely go back, though!

 

God I wish, I would sling so much more pootie tang

 

Thinking back on it. I should have hit the cash button filled him up and had my hand hanging out like Rob Schneider in home alone 2.

 

No self-service here in China. I had to learn to ask someone else to pump my gas when we got a car here; 20% language reasons and 80% "why the heck do I need someone else to do this for me?"

 

I grew up in Ohio. Maumee, near Toledo. It's not as that bad. Take for instance... Cedar Point. Er, that was already mentioned. That's all I got.

 

If anyone cares, there is a small family owned gas station with a mechanic a few miles from my house. They have a separate pump that just dispenses non-ethanol gas. I buy this gas for my zero turn mower, pressure washer, boat engine, garden tiller, and other small gas engine operated lawn equipment. All the lawn service people and boaters use them and they have quite a business. As soon as you pull up to the pump, a nice lady will come out from the office and she will fill up your gas cans, boat, vehicle etc. If she is busy someone else will come out and do it for you. Great old fashion service! Oh and no crappy ethanol gas to gum up your small engines!

John

 

I live proudly in Ohio. Not sure where all the hate is from. There are many states that don't have much, saying Cedar Point is the only thing we have is very narrow minded.

With that being said, I've never seen a full service station in my 31yrs in Ohio. NJ is the only place I've seen one.

 

I've never had someone pump my gas for me anywhere... then again I'm 23.

But ouch. Shame on you for the Ohio hate haha. PA and MI are tied for the worst states ever imo.

My girlfriends grandparents are from/live in Findlay. We go visit a few times a year.

 

Same goes for Malaysia. I tried to pump my own once on vacation. Thought I was going to get lynched the guy was so angry.

 

I was just surprised this weekend to roll up to a gas station here in CT and find it was full service... I'd much rather pump my own for a little cheaper AND not have to tip the guy when it's all said and done.

 

Ha. I started to tip the guy in Malaysia and my WIFE jumped my ass for that. They don't tip there. For anything, unless it's in the touristy resorts.

 

Funny, thats how a lot of us in Ohio feel about MI.

I'm 38 and can remember a few full service stations from my childhood. Haven't seen one in Ohio since I began driving though.

 

Eh. The only good thing in Ohio are the buckeyes. I'm talking about the peanut butter and chocolate candy, not the college mascot.

 

On the original topic.....back in 1972 the wife and I were exploring the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A hurricane was forming offshore, so we hopped the ferry in Orakoke which took us over to the mainland, and dropped us off in some fairly remote wildlife refuge. Now remember, this was in the early 70's before any oil crises. We were used to having gas station attendants hurry out, pump our gas, check our oil, wash our windshield, and give us a free steak knife. Well I was needing gas, in backwater North Carolina, so I pulled into a ramshackle looking place that had a pump out front. I got out of the car, and leaned against the fender, ready to engage the attendant in conversation, and pay him. Well, five minutes went by and there was no sign of any activity, so I went into the store. And there , I kid you not, were two good old boys, leaning against a counter playing checkers. After the one behind the counter made a move, he looked up at me and drawled.."Waddya need?" I said, that I would like to have them get me some gas. And he replied, (I will never forget this) " What's a matter? Don't ya'll know how to work the pump? "

 

What about South Bass Island.

 

Don't know that one. We did mess around a bit in Put in bay (something like that) and that was fun. But we liked to zip up to macinac island or one of the many lakes in Michigan for fun. There's a lake in MI called Silver lake that has great sand dunes on the far side. That was a hoot.

Growing up in OH was a good childhood. No complaints. But as an adult there are nicer places to live.

[edit] of course, I just looked up S Bass and that is where Put-in Bay is. I really don't remember it though.

 

Your story reminds me of the gas station scene at the beginning of Deliverance. You knew at that moment in the movie something bad was coming.

 

Just got back from vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota...on our way there, we stopped in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace D) and had to get fuel...stopped at a decent looking convenience store in the middle of town, pulled up to the pump, and realized they were "old style"...no credit card reader, nothing. Nozzles hanging off the side, flip the lever pumps, 7 segment LED's on the fuel counters. I walked in, gave the girl behind the counter my credit card and said I was going to fill up. She looked at me like I was from a different planet...but I walked out, filled up, and returned to the store. I asked her "you guys don't pre-pay here, do you?" She said, "no, why would we do that?"

I love small towns.

 

'High test' or 'ethyl'?