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Just the thought of pumping their own gas apparently has some Oregonians losing their minds.
Thanks to a new law that took effect Monday, residents in some rural Oregon counties will soon be allowed to pump their own gas. Aside from that exception, Oregon and New Jersey are the only states that do not allow drivers to fill up their own tanks.
Oregon House Bill 2482 was passed in May and allows people living in Oregon counties with 40,000 residents or less to pump their own petrol.
But it wasn't until Medford, Oregon, television station KTVL posted about the new law on social media that the rest of the country learned just how freaked out some Oregonians are at the mere thought of pumping gas.
Here's a sampling of the panicked comments:
Others had some fun in the comments after the Dec. 29 post went viral:
Some gas station managers told The Bend Bulletin that employees would continue delivering the same full-service treatment that customers have come to expect since self-service gas was banned in 1951.
"Our regular, longtime customers love coming here and talking to us while we pump their gas," Shelby Perkins, a cashier at a 76 gas station in Prineville, told the paper.
Perkins told the Bulletin it was quite possible that the local drivers had no idea how to use a gas pump.
Other managers said they would have employees on hand to teach drivers how to pump their gas.
KarmaAerospace on January 4th, 2018 at 15:35 UTC »
About 7 years ago I was working nights at a gas station in Southern WA. In the middle of the night, a car pulled up to the pumps. I thought nothing of it. After about ten minutes, people start coming out of the car and milling about it. Still, whatever. It's the middle of the night, they're not causing trouble. Whatever. After about 30 minutes, a mid-20s dude storms in, pissed as hell, nearly screaming " Are you going to pump our gas or what?!" To which I replied "This is Washington, I don't pump your gas."
Not much of a story, but it was worth a chuckle at the time. I also had a really sweet young mother meekly come in and politely ask me to show her how to operate a gas pump.
Joey__stalin on January 4th, 2018 at 12:33 UTC »
Have these people never left Oregon?
tannerdowling on January 4th, 2018 at 10:50 UTC »
I saw some screen grabs on twitter today of some people VIOLENTLY complaining that the fumes would be hazardous for them to breathe while they pumped gas and should be handled by a qualified person, aka the pump attendant.