5 things NJ gas attendants do that we all hate, #4 costs you $$$

Love it or hate it, New Jersey’s ban on self-serve gas isn’t going away anytime soon. I hate the ban, and I would like to see the issue decided by the voters directly in a ballot question.

When politicians didn’t have the stomach to pass legalized marijuana themselves, they punted to the voters, and it passed that way.

If lawmakers are too cowardly to vote on allowing us to pump our gas, fine, let us decide.

As long as we have gas attendants, we will have good ones and we will have bad ones. Oh man, have I had some bad ones.

Here are five things New Jersey gas attendants do that we all hate:

1. The Zombie move

Haven’t we all had an attendant move slowly and then just stare at us through our open window? No “Good morning” and no “What can I get you?” Just that dead, icy stare, knowing you’ll give your order even if they just stand there, blankly.

I have had entire transactions beginning to end where I was the only person talking.

Those gas pumps might as well be gravestones in this horror show.

2. Itchy trigger finger

It has happened to me often enough where the gas attendant is in such a hurry, they slam the nozzle in and fire off the trigger, then walk away so quickly they don’t bother checking to make sure it’s pumping.

They’re halfway across the lot, and I realize the pump clicked off as soon as it started because they're in too much of a hurry.

Surely I can’t be the only one.

And if they don’t want us pumping our gas, at least take a second to see if it’s actually dispensing.

3. Cellphone clown

Just last week, a gas attendant stood and finished a text he was writing and hit send before he started waiting on me. He wasn't even subtle about it.

Or how often is your gas attendant talking on their cellphone, perhaps in another language, during the entire transaction? Get off the phone, do your job.

4. Topping off

This one drives some people into a rage. Gas attendants like round numbers, especially if it’s a cash transaction, so they don’t have to deal too much with change.

When a driver never asked for their tank to be "topped off" (continuing to pump gasoline a little at a time even after the pump hit the automatic stop), and the attendant takes it upon themselves to do it is not only a great cause for annoyance.

It can damage your car and cost you money.

Many people don’t realize that when you continue trickling gas into a car after the pump clicks off, that gas is often going into the vapor recovery system on the gas nozzle and never makes it into your car. It ends up going back into the gas station’s storage tank. So that extra 45 cents he squeezed out might not be going into your car at all, but back through the nozzle and into their tank.

You’re buying gas, you’re not getting it. Plus, overfilling a gas tank can put fuel into your vehicle’s charcoal canister and can greatly damage that part of your car’s fuel system. It’s an expensive repair.

5. Premature nozzle withdrawal

Again, some attendants are too slow, others are too fast.

A big aggravation is when one pulls the nozzle out too quickly and gasoline spills down the side of your car.

There’s rarely an apology or even a recognition that it happened.

Gas attendants, if we’re going to be forced to keep this status quo of full-serve, be better!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

Report a correction 👈