And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
The gas, the car or the service where the uniformed white Anglo-Saxon attendant who is also a resident on the same block as you not only pumps your gas, cleans your windshield, checks all the fluids like oil, battery and radiator, tire pressure even on the full size spare, hands you a fist fill of S&H Green stamps after the sale, and finally gives you a run-down on what's happening in the neighborhood (we didn't have communities then) thanks you and wishes you a good day.....All in perfect ENGLISH even though he left school in the 9th grade?
I can still remember sitting in the back (as a little kid) and smelling those gas fumes as the tank was being filled. The attendant would not only clean the windshield but also wipe down the wipers for a fresh edge. Heaven on earth.
If you consider that gas is ten times as much today, which puts that cost in line with most everything else, the service then was off the charts for the same price.....hell, today you get nothing but the chance to fill your own tank....it's all relevant.....in 1966 I made a buck fifteen an hour to pump gas and worked my ass off to get it....
As a youngster pumping gas (one of many duties at a country grocery store) the knowledge of where to find the filler on various automobiles was a valued skill. Detroit hid 'em all over, and the VW Beetle had one you had to open the cargo compartment to find.
I remember well (and miss) the smell of real, gen-yoo-ine leaded gasoline, not to mention the S&H Green Stamps and all the other neat stuff from Service Stations.
Service Stations, not just 7-11/Circle-K clones with some gas pumps attached. Hell, really, when did you last check your oil level, much less tranny, windshield wiper, etc fluids? Most folks probably would not know how.
As nonncom points out, the costs are roughly the same given inflation, but add on all the other stuff sold in the merchant sections, how are the economics different? I once worked at a place in Denver, Zed's Tire, I think, that had not only pumps but sold tires and had a full maintenance shop. I guess that end of the business contributed a lot to the bottom line.
BTW, I learned a lot there, like the admonition to fill up a truck tire with the ring pointed downward is VERY good advice. Gouged the concrete an inch deep when it blew off a used tire.
some of my earliest jobs were at Service Stations - learned a lot there. How to shoot craps; how to ride a motorcycle over 100 mph; how to take care of customers; how to pay attention to details (get all those bugs off, young man!! and make sure you check the oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, fan belts, windshield washer fluid, etc.). Oh yeah, and how to spray just enough windshield washing fluid from our spray bottles onto someone's butt just enough so that it would soak though their pants AFTER you moved away from them enough so they couldn't tell who it was that did it. Many unique smells as well - like bugs from the windshield after you scrubbed them off with a nylon pad, the bugs on the radiator on a very hot Texas summer day, the rubber of new tires being mounted on rims, and the smell of differential oil.
The gas, the car or the service where the uniformed white Anglo-Saxon attendant who is also a resident on the same block as you not only pumps your gas, cleans your windshield, checks all the fluids like oil, battery and radiator, tire pressure even on the full size spare, hands you a fist fill of S&H Green stamps after the sale, and finally gives you a run-down on what's happening in the neighborhood (we didn't have communities then) thanks you and wishes you a good day.....All in perfect ENGLISH even though he left school in the 9th grade?
ReplyDeleteI can still remember sitting in the back (as a little kid) and smelling those gas fumes as the tank was being filled. The attendant would not only clean the windshield but also wipe down the wipers for a fresh edge. Heaven on earth.
ReplyDeleteAh...the smell of leaded gas...memories.
DeleteIf you consider that gas is ten times as much today, which puts that cost in line with most everything else, the service then was off the charts for the same price.....hell, today you get nothing but the chance to fill your own tank....it's all relevant.....in 1966 I made a buck fifteen an hour to pump gas and worked my ass off to get it....
ReplyDeletehttps://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-adjusted-prices/inflation-adjusted-gasoline-prices/
DeleteAs a youngster pumping gas (one of many duties at a country grocery store) the knowledge of where to find the filler on various automobiles was a valued skill. Detroit hid 'em all over, and the VW Beetle had one you had to open the cargo compartment to find.
ReplyDeleteI remember well (and miss) the smell of real, gen-yoo-ine leaded gasoline, not to mention the S&H Green Stamps and all the other neat stuff from Service Stations.
ReplyDeleteAnd we would even sweep out the floor boards with the whisk broom kept in our hip pocket. All at 19 cents a gallon.
ReplyDeleteService Stations, not just 7-11/Circle-K clones with some gas pumps attached. Hell, really, when did you last check your oil level, much less tranny, windshield wiper, etc fluids? Most folks probably would not know how.
ReplyDeleteAs nonncom points out, the costs are roughly the same given inflation, but add on all the other stuff sold in the merchant sections, how are the economics different? I once worked at a place in Denver, Zed's Tire, I think, that had not only pumps but sold tires and had a full maintenance shop. I guess that end of the business contributed a lot to the bottom line.
BTW, I learned a lot there, like the admonition to fill up a truck tire with the ring pointed downward is VERY good advice. Gouged the concrete an inch deep when it blew off a used tire.
Rickvid, Was that when inner-tubes were used for other things than just rafting down the local river?
DeleteI was in Charleston, SC when gasoline hit 50 cents per gallon (there, anyway).
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking it just CAN’T get any more expensive...
Charlie
some of my earliest jobs were at Service Stations - learned a lot there. How to shoot craps; how to ride a motorcycle over 100 mph; how to take care of customers; how to pay attention to details (get all those bugs off, young man!! and make sure you check the oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, fan belts, windshield washer fluid, etc.). Oh yeah, and how to spray just enough windshield washing fluid from our spray bottles onto someone's butt just enough so that it would soak though their pants AFTER you moved away from them enough so they couldn't tell who it was that did it. Many unique smells as well - like bugs from the windshield after you scrubbed them off with a nylon pad, the bugs on the radiator on a very hot Texas summer day, the rubber of new tires being mounted on rims, and the smell of differential oil.
ReplyDelete