GAS STATION ATTENDANTS
Apparently
there is a shortage of gas station attendants in New Jersey. There isn’t a shortage in the rest of the
country except maybe Oregon, because all the other states allow
self-service. Personally I prefer having
an attendant fill my tank, so I don’t want the New Jersey law changed. Unfortunately we have a shortage of
attendants.
In order to
fill the need for gas station attendants in New Jersey the state brings in
immigrants from Mid-eastern countries.
I don’t know why they all come from the middle-east; you would think immigrants
from other countries could do the job; apparently we need attendants from
countries that have a lot of oil. I
guess if you come from a country that has a lot of oil you will be very good at
pumping gas.
Personally I
am surprised that in a state with over 6% unemployment, we could not fill the
gas station attendant shortage locally.
Apparently that is not the case.
As long as
we have to import labor to fill our tanks in New Jersey, I wish we could demand
several skills from these imported attendants before issuing them a visa.
Applicants
should:
1. Demonstrate the ability to put all
the gas from the pump into a tank. If
this means learning how to deal with pennies when making change, applicants
should have to demonstrate that as well.
Applicants who insist on overflowing gas all over a cars body in order
to reach an easy exact change amount will be denied. Applicants who insist on overflowing gas all
over a cars body in order to reach an easy exact change amount even thought the
customer is paying with a charge card should be sent to Guantanamo.
2. Learn to say “Cash or charge?” “Cach o chach?” is not acceptable.
3. Learn to say “regular or premium.” “reguum
o pemuum?” is not acceptable.
(Raising your voice and getting angry because people from New Jersey have no idea what you are asking is also unacceptable.)
4. Understand the term “Fillerup.”
(Raising your voice and getting angry because people from New Jersey have no idea what you are asking is also unacceptable.)
4. Understand the term “Fillerup.”
5. Be able to say “Thank you” when
accepting payment.
6. Be able to say “You’re welcome” when
a customer says, “thank you.”
7. Actually use the ability to say “Thank
you” and “You’re welcome” when appropriate.
There was a
time when citizens of this country could easily perform all 7 of these
requirements. In addition they could
clean your windows and check your engine fluids. Maybe since we have no self-service in New
Jersey, none of the residents ever learned how to work a pump
Perhaps New
Jersey schools could add “Gas Station Attendant” to their curriculum. This would reduce our unemployment rate, and
also reduce the need to seek talented individuals from outside the country to
fill this important position.
We could
recruit people from Pennsylvania to teach the course.
I think we can send laid-off coal miners over to you. We speak pretty good English here, y'all.
ReplyDeletehad no idea you had real attendants there!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen an attendant for donkeys' years. We are even switching to pumps where you pay by card at the pump so no need for a human being in a kiosk to take the money.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we have self service here. I would not want to hand my credit card over to the folks you are describing!
ReplyDeleteWhen I used to travel through NJ, as I did approximately every other weekend, I liked filling up in NJ because it generally was cheaper, and, someone pumped for me, at one in the morning.
ReplyDeleteCan you pump your own gas in New Jersey? I thought I lived in the only state where you're not permitted to pump our own gas. Every time we leave the state it takes me a while to get used to pumping my own.
ReplyDeleteI am moving to New Jersey or back to Oregon. Driving over 40 years and still cannot pump my own gas (loved it when we lived in Oregon). I do miss the days of full service, glad to see pumping gas by attendants still exists somewhere. With a bit of fine tuning, it could work better I think. Interesting too because a lot of attendants at 7/11 and similar stores in California were of the same ethnicity as the gas attendants in New Jersey. Interesting why natural born citizens look down on this type of work.
ReplyDeletebetty
I'd rather pump my own gas and this post is the reason why. I'm just saying. Funny, but ever so frustrating.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day and weekend Joe. ☺
No to self service, that's my motto. You see, our garages employ men who can speak English as well as knowing their manners. They fill the cars with fuel, then check the tyres and other stuff without any extra charge. Not only that but I get to go home with clean hands... smiles.
ReplyDeleteAbout Oregon's gas pumpers -
ReplyDeleteSomeone should teach them how to get the nozzle into the fill pipe on the first try so they don't scratch the paint on the car.
I can manufacture my own gas--especially after eating Mexican food!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck finding someone to do it for you around here! There are a few things besides just a pulse that you should have if you want this job, i agree.
ReplyDeleteGood grief. Last time an attendant filled my tank, I had stuck two fingers up and said "Two bucks please." That lasted me a week and included an oil check. I had no idea attendants even still existed.
ReplyDelete"Cach o chach?" I am still rolling around laughing at that from the first time you mentioned it! And now "reguum o pemuum?" LMAO!
ReplyDeleteI used to think getting gas was a pain in the neck. Now I'm glad I pump my own gas...I'd hate to hand my credit card to the type of attendants you describe. I always check the credit card slot if it looks like it might have been fitted with a skimmer - pretty sure your attendants wouldn't do that on my behalf!
ReplyDeleteWe used to have a gas station where an attendant pumped for you. It went out of business last month. Not sure why. Lots of old ladies (myself not included) used it. The owner hired ex-cons as the attendants. I know that because I used to work for the unemployment office. They were thrilled to get a chance to work, those ex-cons. Only one worked per shift, and the money was kept in a wallet and change was made from that and a coin belt. No cash register. I didn't talk to any who were fired for stealing. Usually it was for not opening on time.
ReplyDeleteI don't care where gas station attendants come from, but agree they should learn the language and how to make change properly.
ReplyDeleteWow, for folks that can't even find enough people to do the job you sure got a lot of rules!!
ReplyDeletePump your own and you won't have to play games, you always get what you want. Tell Gov Christie I said to get right on fixing that .....
Heck, I know some folks whose only exercise consists of getting out of the car and pumping.
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