You may have seen that Oregon is in the news today after people started making fun of Oregonians who are very against a change in the state’s gas pumping law.
In Oregon (like New Jersey), you’re not allowed to pump your own gas. When you pull up to a gas station here, an attendant comes up to your window, you give him or her your credit card and tell them what kind of gas you want. If you try to get out of your car at the pump and do it yourself, you get scolded and they wave you back in your car (I made that mistake when I first moved here, just out of habit).
But that changed on Jan. 1, when people in Oregon’s rural counties were given the right to pump their own gas.
That did not sit well with some longtime Oregonians, who aired their concerns on the Facebook page of a local TV station.
I’m not going to defend those people, because of course they can pump their own gas with no problem and it’s not the big deal they’re making it out to be.
However, I’ve actually come to enjoy the original law quite a bit in the six months we’ve lived here.
It’s almost like having the option between going into a fast food restaurant to order or being able to use the drive-through lane. Why do so many people use the drive-through? Because it’s more convenient and they don’t want to get out of their cars.
So it’s actually pretty nice when it’s cold outside and you don’t even have to get out of your car to fill up the gas tank. You can just sit there with the window rolled up and look at your phone while someone else does it — guilt-free!
I know it’s lazy to think that way, but it’s actually the law here, so you don’t have a choice anyway (plus, it creates jobs!). Well, until now (in some counties).
Anyway, if you were someone who lived in Oregon for your entire life and got used to it, I can see why those people might be bummed to see it go away.