It’s Saturday morning and time for a little reminiscing:
When I was a child back in the early 70’s, I remember those necessary trips to our local filling station. The smell of oil and gas wasn’t particularly pleasing but to me the revolving flow of automobiles and ever present service attendants was an archetype of perpetual motion and hard work. I recall there being a lot less cars and a lot more happier people back then. Who wouldn’t be happy not having to get out of their car especially in the rain or snow? The attendant, usually dressed in company uniform, would walk up to your window and say something to the effect: “Fill ‘er up?” Of course most folks would confirm in the affirmative.
The male attendant (very rarely a female for whatever reason) would open the fuel hatch and that familiar clunking sound of the pump would continue until the nozzle was firmly in its place. The pumping of the liquid gold began. Oh, but it didn’t end there. The attendant proceeded to make good use of his time. He grabbed his squeegee, walked around the front of the car and proceeded to skillfully wash down the windshield, quickly removing accumulated dirt and insect corpses littering the once shiny glass. I watched him go back and forth, from top to bottom and found it to be quite hypnotizing.
By this time, our tank was sufficiently full and we were almost on our way. We paid in cash back then. In those days gas was cheap and you could actually buy things for a penny. Well, not very many things mind you. We waved goodbye, knowing we’d be back in a few hundred miles.
I looked this next part up: By 1981, 48 states changed their fire codes to allow for individuals to pump their own gas and hybrid self/ full service stations started popping up all over the place.
Nowadays we are each responsible for pumping our own gas. With this one innovation, gas station ethics have flown the coop. Allow me to explain: Whether it’s the thumpity thump of bass speakers, spilled gasoline next to the pump, folks who won’t shut off their engine even though the sign says to, or the folks who pump and then go inside to shop, eventually returning to their vehicle at their leisure…all these distractions make pumping gas not as fun as in the golden age of full-service gas stations.
And I surly miss that era. I’ll have to ask Grandpa about his days….
Jim
Addendum: I have owned and driven a hybrid vehicle since 2009. Its engine consists of a gasoline and electric motor which sit side by side in the engine compartment (where else, lol) working in tandem with one another. It’s a purely ingenious system in my view. I must tell you that I was amazed that after driving 270,000 miles, my brakes were still effective and did not need replacing. I am told this was partly because of the regenerative braking system which generates energy and directs it back to the battery for future use. It was easy to get 60MPG or more.
I remember 27.9 gas wars as a kid. Going to the nearby gas station 1/2 mile away alone, that was my Dads friend and mechanic to the air pump to fill my bicycle tires.My parents didn’t think anything about a 7 year old doing this alone. Quite reversed now!
I miss those days!