Now that Governor Murphy has signed the bill raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, businesses will be making adjustments, either by raising prices or cutting staffs, or both. You'll be seeing more and more automation where you shop in the form of self ordering kiosks and cashiers. One place you will not see it is the New Jersey gas station, where because of some archaic law, we are still not allowed to pump our own gas. It's not fair.

I'm not saying to eliminate the full service islands. God forbid! There has to be a place for Jersey girls to get gas. What I am saying and Sal Risalvato, Executive Director of the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience Store and Automotive Association agrees with, is that you should also be allowed to go to a pump where there is currently an orange cone and pump it yourself. This will allow the business to make as money as possible in the time that they are open. Risalvato says you can also save as much as 10 cents a gallon because the station will not have to pay someone to pump it for you.

Will jobs be lost? Possibly but this minimum wage increase may force jobs to be lost in every business. Also, if the pump is currently behind an orange cone, no one is there anyway. Imagine going to Walmart and being told that you can only buy from the aisles where there's a sales person. Ridiculous!

It's time to allow the gas stations owners, as well as the people of New Jersey to realize their full ability and potential. If you want to pump your own gas and save time and money, then by Jersey you should! And if the gas station owner has working gas pumps that could be serving customers instead of sitting behind an orange cone, they should be allowed to do it. Just like the department stores and fast food places can.

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