I expect the rule that half of the pumps must have an attendant will be repealed eventually, as gas stations* will want to switch more/all their pumps to self serve.
*and when I say gas stations, I mean Costco and Fred Meyer. What share of the market do they hold? More than 50% seems likely.
Costco gas is cheaper and they don’t have those annoying ads on the pump. Fuck everyone who was even remotely responsible for bombarding people with even more ads.
My ambivalence about this is how it'll impact folks who can't pump their own gas. I'm disabled so having an attendant to pump is so nice, in states without it's a hassle to call someone out to pump who may not have ever done so or even know that they can do that. Folks even get pissed at having to disrupt work and come out, or even refuse. It's a barrier that impacts disabled folks access to independent travel. Will this be the fate of Oregon, maybe not immediately but eventually? Great for folks who want to pump their own but for disabled folks who've never had this barrier before it's going to suck.
I understand if people have a moderate preference, but I don’t understand why some people have STRONG opinions about pumping their own gas.
When the weather is crappy, I’d rather have someone pump my gas for me than leave the car and do it myself. In New Jersey, pumping your own gas is actually illegal. Gas stations must pay an attendant, yet gas isn’t any more expensive in New Jersey than it is in New York or Pennsylvania. In fact, sometimes it’s cheaper. The overhead doesn’t appear to be passed on to the customer.
If there was a price difference, then okay, but since the prices are just about the same, I just don’t get it. I welcome any explanations or personal opinions.
For real! I understand it takes a few minutes longer but it's sooooo nice not having to get out of the car.
I am severely biased though, I drive a VW Golf diesel and Oregon allows drivers to pump their own diesel fuel. If the attendant takes more than two seconds to service me I just do it myself.
It's a matter of personal independence and speed. If I'm at a gas station to fill up then I'm not making progress in getting where I want to be going. I know what grade of gas I want put in my car, I know how the pumps operate, and I can generally fuel my car faster than going through the back-and-forth process of dealing with an attendant. Of course, I've also only lived in places where self-service was the norm, so I'm very used to pumping my own gas. Whenever I drive down to visit my sister in Portland I always try to fill up across the river in Washington just so I don't have to deal with the mandatory full-service in Oregon.
I've been yelled at by gas attendants in Oregon when I've tried to pump my own gas before. I find it just easier to just avoid refilling in the state if I can.
I'm actually pretty bummed about the change. It's a luxury (and one of the things that makes Oregon special) to be able to wait in a heated or air conditioned car while someone else pump my gas. I also don't understand why some people are so gung ho to pump their own.
Washingtonian here; I just prefer to pump it myself. I don’t have to wait for someone to come over after I’ve been there for 5+ minutes while the attendant services other customers, I don’t have to wait for them to come back after the gas has stopped pumping, and all this waiting time compounds if the station’s busy.
It’s not that I don’t like waiting in general, it’s just that it’s a task that generally doesn’t require waiting in my day-to-day so I find it irksome.
As an Aussie who has always pumped their own gas, I'd LOVE to be able to rock up and have someone just do it for me. Why is this the case in your state, out of curiosity?
The ban on self service in New Jersey was originally passed way back in 1949. It was presented as a safety issue.
Every once in a while, someone proposes a bill to make self-service legal, and it’s always been shot down by a wide margin. I don’t think such a bill has even made it to the governor’s desk in my lifetime.
Much of the public sees full service as a free luxury, and most politicians don’t want to do something known to be unpopular. I heard about the situation in Oregon, but didn’t expect bill to pass.
I live in Oregon and I’m split on this. I’m leaning towards it is mostly a good thing; being low on gas at night is always stressful if you don’t know of a station that’s open late/24 hours, so being able to pump your own gas is especially useful in those instances. It’ll also be nice not needing to have to wait a few minutes for an attendant to get to my car when it’s busy and they’re short handed.
However, pumping gas has definitely provided jobs for those who needed them. Hopefully they can find other work that is healthier for the employees - I can’t imagine inhaling gas fumes 8 hours a day is great for the body.
yeah, I hope the law provides something for the displaced workers, and does more than just clear the way for all the gas stations to fire half their employees immediately...
However, pumping gas has definitely provided jobs for those who needed them. Hopefully they can find other work that is healthier for the employees - I can’t imagine inhaling gas fumes 8 hours a day is great for the body.
I realize this is the case, and I definitely don't want to run the risk of (1) making hundreds of other people's lives much harder just to remove a minor inconvenience for me, nor (2) gatekeep what is and isn't a viable job.... but I also don't see it stable (in the long term) to prop up types of work that don't actually need formalized employment to be done.
Agreed. If you're giving people makework you might as well start implementing UBI, because then you're not paying for injuries on the job, you're not paying for commute, there's no additional expenses and people can study and improve their lives so they can do more useful jobs.
My sentiment as well. Preserving unnecessary jobs for the sole purpose of delivering a paycheck is just a cruel version of welfare. If we're going to pay people to contribute nothing or next to nothing because they need an income and that's their only option, can't we just write the check without obliterating the hours they could be using to improve themselves in some way?
Maybe if there's a place in OR I can stop on the 5 that doesn't make me scared I'll be shot for not being perfectly American Average, I can not even worrying about stopping there as I cruise through in my electric car I'll buy when Soros pays me all that money he owes me
Edit: since for some reason I can't respond to the comment: Multiple times. Most memorable was when I accidentally stopped at a roadside restaurant that gave discounts for open-carry licenses and served the saddest burgers I've ever had the displeasure of paying full price for.
Oregon is both extremely liberal and extremely conservative, depending on where you are in the state.
No good feeling unsafe, though. As an Oregonian, I’m sorry: you should not have had that experience.
Along ‘the five’, I’m guessing you were in Southern Oregon, though there are plenty of places in the Willamette valley that love to be contrarian and stick it to the libs with kooky conservative virtue signaling like you experienced at the burger place. Fuck that noise.
And yes, Oregon has a racist history. Most of the families who are black and grew up here first settled in Vanport around the time of WWII, working the shipyards. Many of the now gentrified neighborhoods in North Portland were where many of those Vanport residents migrated after the flooding that devastated the homes.
With so few black families and the reputation of not wanting African American residents at all in Oregon, it’s no wonder the number of black residents hasn’t climbed.
yeah - the only people I know who have purchased a vehicle new in the last few decades are my parents - they're older and wanted something with all the latest bells and whistles because it'll be the last car they buy. saw them a few weeks ago, it feels like riding in a smartphone.
for myself, prior to my car being stolen this last December, I had owned it for 18 years and it was used when I got it. the vehicle I'm turning into an RV is 36 years old (though everything "under the hood" is being replaced - engine/drivetrain/suspension/brakes/exhaust/fuel/electrical systems, etc).
it may be that when new vehicles are readily available - whenever that happens - that a lot of folks will purchase ev's/hybrids, but I honestly dont see it happening.
I bought a used Chevy Spark from a dealer for 8.5k (6k with the Oregon refund) 2 years ago and have barely touched gas or oil since. It's not out of reach.
I drive a hybrid, and it was one of the most important factors in deciding which car to purchase after my last one was totaled. I ended up with a 2019 Honda Insight. It’s an absolutely fantastic vehicle for what I need a car for. The mileage is excellent, and the range exceeds even the best EV by essentially double while not suffering from the biggest EV downside – charging.
Hybrids are absolutely the middle ground, transition vehicles to EV. Most manufacturers are going all-in on hybrid drive systems. CA’s requirement that all new vehicles by 2035 be zero-emission is driving that transition. Once charging becomes ubiquitous as gas stations, we’re going to see an explosion of EV vehicles.
The only reason I don’t have an EV now is because I live in an apartment complex and don’t have a ready way to charge a car without going somewhere else.
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