A few months ago I overheard a funny conversation. It was two women I was passing by who were in the middle of a conversation about how stupid it would be to lift the ban on self-serve gas in New Jersey. I don't know how it started. As I said, I only caught this in passing. But what I heard was one woman saying, "I know, right? I'm a Jersey girl. I don't pump. No thank you. It's one of the few luxuries we have." And the other woman saying, "Plus it would cost these guys jobs."

Why do I say this was a funny conversation? After all, they are entitled to their opinion. If they think it's a luxury to not move on with their day quicker by pumping their own gas, that is totally their right. If they believe that preserving this type of job is important, again, their right. So what made it funny? They were having this conversation in the post office while the first woman was feeding her credit card into the self-serve machine in the lobby as she was buying stamps for a package and the second woman was waiting in line behind her.

The other day I had to stop for gas on the way to work. It was an already busy day, as I had to go to a doctor for an upper respiratory infection that morning, plus I had to be on a conference call for sales, in addition to watching my toddler and 3 month old for part of the morning, in addition to getting the show prepared. I pulled in and the gas attendant only took about one minute to start waiting on me. Not bad, considering he was the only attendant working three islands, and at one point they were full with 12 cars. Once my pump clicked off though, the wait began. I watched as he went to four other cars and began filling them all up before finally deciding to get out of the car and finish it myself. I never like to do this because gas attendants have gotten very territorial and nasty when I have. I understand their station could technically get a fine for allowing a customer to do this. But this was going on five minutes of wait time after being done with no end in sight.

It got me thinking about people's own hypocrisy, just like the ladies at the post office. I wonder how many of the people who embrace the silly ban on self-serve gas use any of the following self-serve systems.

  • Red Box to get a movie
  • U-scan at a grocery store when you only have a few items
  • The touch screen at a QuickChek to order your sandwich
  • EZ-Pass (where's the outcry about the lost toll collector jobs?)
  • NJ Transit ticket machines
  • Frozen yogurt self-serve shops
  • Do-it-yourself car wash bays
  • ATMs

There are many, many more examples, but I think you get the point. I find it hilarious that we are the only state left with an all out ban on self-serve gas and people are so brainwashed that they think the rest of the country has it wrong.

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