New Jersey is full serve only
I'm sure many of you are well aware of the absurdity of New Jersey's longstanding ban on self-service gasoline. While some argue that the loss of station attendant jobs would be bad for the economy, I argue the exact opposite. Basic economics tells us this an inefficient system. Given that the vast number of would-be-self-serve customers are forced to use full-serve, they are directly and unnecessarily subsidizing the employment of the gas station attendants. In other words, even though New Jersey has some of the cheapest gas in the country, it is still overpriced.
When the people and politicians refuse to make logical decisions, we sometimes have no choice but to turn to comedy. This Daily Show clip is the perfect remedy for me. It features Ed Helms, before he became the great Andy Bernard.
When you say smart, do you mean stupid?
When the people and politicians refuse to make logical decisions, we sometimes have no choice but to turn to comedy. This Daily Show clip is the perfect remedy for me. It features Ed Helms, before he became the great Andy Bernard.
When you say smart, do you mean stupid?
What's great is when out-of-staters come to NJ and try to pump their own gas. The attendant drops whatever he's holding (hope it isn't your credit card), runs to the car, wrestles the nozzle from the person and screams at them. Clearly the danger of operating a pump warrants immediate intervention before serious injury can occur.
Occasionally the attendants will start a conversation with you. One guy told me "I like to jog in the rain." Another made fun of my car.
If one attendant can pump 30 cars an hour, at 10 gallons a car that he pumps 300 gallons an hour. If he costs $10/hour all-in, then the cost of self serve should be ~3 cents lower than it is now ($10/300 gallons = 3 cents/gallon). But in other states, full serve is 50 cents more expensive than self serve. If NJ offers self-serve, stations can legitimately charge 50 cents more per gallon for full serve, and reap huge profits because the NJ populous is too stupid to pump gas.
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I honestly don't know how that lobbyist Bill Dressler keeps a straight face. He says that pumping gas can give you cancer and doesn't flinch.
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