In article >,
"Nancy Young" > wrote:

> cshenk wrote:
>
> > When I was young, 'self gas stations' were rare. Now, it is almost
> > imposible to find one with someone to pump the gas if you need it.
> > They are 'supposed' to help those with disability plates, but they
> > dont. Helped many a person who was mobility impared when no one would
> > come out.
>
> I haven't the vaguest idea why people knock us not having
> self serve. You pull up, a nice person comes over and pumps
> your gas. It's great!

Self serve started gradually here. For a while, towards the end, there
were token full serve pumps, but nobody used them. The surcharge was
US$.50 per gallon. If gas was US$1.499 at the self serve pump, it was
US$1.999 at the full serve pump. That works out to about US$150 per
hour, for someone who probably got 5 minutes training. No thanks. It
would be different if it was faster, but it isn't.

I don't remember the last time I interacted with an employee at a gas
station. Probably in Oregon, which doesn't allow self serve. Here in
California, I drive up to the pump, stick my credit card in, pump the
gas, get my receipt from the pump and drive off.

My local Costco sells gas. I try to buy it there, although it isn't
worth a special trip to me. They have 8 gas lines. Each line has two
pumps (actually there are only 8 pumps, but they are double-sided).
There is one employee on duty. His job is to put out fires and clean up
spills. They take no cash or checks, so the employee never touches
payments.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA