Believe it or not, dinosaurs did not roam the earth the last time Americans experienced the full-service gas station fill-up. And by “full” service I mean that they pumped your gas. There was a time when they would check the air in your tires and your oil level, but I think those were just lightly-disguised ploys to up sell the driver on a quart or two of 10W-30.
With apologies to New Jersey and Oregon where full-service is the law, most fill-ups in this land are pump-it-yourself. For a while, when gas stations were phasing out full-service, you had your choice: park at the pumps nearest the building and you’d get your gas pumped for you; park away from the building and the joy was all yours.
I remember the arguments that people had about this change. Some liked it because they wanted to fill and be on their way. Others were against it because now they would be the ones getting petrol burps on their skirts.
Along with full service was a special dialect that was used to make your gasoline order. This special way of speaking has has all but evaporated. In days past you would hear drivers shout “Fill ‘er up,” meaning fill the tank full. Or you might here “Give me five worth,” meaning once you’ve given me five dollars’ worth of gas, stop. It reminds me of the style of banter one would hear at a farm auction: “Who’ll gimme five, five, five, five for this whosie-whatsis…do I hear five, five, five?”
With the fill-yourself model you had the privilege, after finishing the dirty deed, to walk into the store and pay for the amount on Pump 7. I always wondered how long that would last. I mean, upon seeing old Frank over there filling up his little lawnmower gas can at Pump 3, how easy would it be for one to prance in to the store and pay Frank’s two-gallon bill and then drive away? That would leave the young felon behind the counter wondering who pumped the 25 gallons on Pump 7…and Frank looking stupid. At $3 an hour, that little escapade would have eaten up said felon’s earnings for the day. He probably made up the difference by stealing beer and selling it to the 10-year-olds gathered out back…so let us not feel too awfully sorry for him.
The next big change at the gas station was the inclusion of plastic processing equipment right in the pumps. I think this is one of the best consumer benefits to come along in years. With a card reader at the pump the customer could now buy whatever quantity of whatever grade gasoline they wanted and pay for it with a credit or debit card right at the pump. Faster. More efficient. And it allowed the customer the opportunity to avoid the delicious Klondike bars calling their name at the cash register inside.
So today was gas day for the ole Hemi pickup. I count myself lucky when I can make it a full week in the mountains between fill-ups. It’s a major financial transaction and one that is not one of the high points of my life. But today I had a thought (it does happen).
For years we bought gas with some consideration for the amount of cash we had on our person. If you had five dollars (or in today’s economy, $30), you might fill your tank to that amount, even if that didn’t fill the tank.
Similarly, wanting to be as efficient as possible, rounding up was (and is) very popular. If the pump shuts itself off at $27.83 we often squirt and spurt our way to an even $28 (even though they tell us we’re killing our cars and whales by doing so).
When we were using cash that sort of made sense. We wanted to be in and out and on our way. We didn’t want to force the poor kid at the register to have to make incorrect change. It was a good thing.
But now it seems everyone is using plastic of some sort or another. The gas station I used today in particular was quite busy. It takes a while to pump 25 gallons so I had plenty of time to people-watch. (I am convinced that they’ve decreased the flow rate so that we are forced to stand there longer and listen to the ads for the stale doughnuts on sale inside). Without exception everyone that went inside to pay was getting something in addition to gasoline. Most of them were buying water to drink. But the majority of clients during my visit were paying with plastic at the pump.
I had that thought in mind when I was getting ready to top off to an even dollar amount…when it struck me! Why am I doing this? I don’t have to worry about change. Whether I make it an even $59 or $58.93 I’m going to be on my way in exactly the same amount of time. Why do I still try to make it an even amount? It’s silly and stupid! Much like my own self!
I mean, when you go to Olive Garden do you keep adding appetizers and desserts trying to make an even amount? At the shoe store? At the Piggly Wiggly? Of course not! You buy what you want, you pay and then you proceed with your sad life!!
So I decided to start today, being a little more sane and little more wise and a little less captive to habits. I am not going to round off my gasoline purchases. I won’t! So the truck has gas and it cost $58.93. Period. Done. End of story.
(Just for the record, I could have gotten that last $1.07 in there…I could have if I wanted to).