Imagine, Buying Gasoline by Dollars, not Gallons

Maybe it really is time to consider buying an electric car. In the scheme of things, electric cars may be the only viable means of getting us from here to there and back.
The Rio Grande Sunoco station, where I normally bought gasoline, abruptly closed. Like other customers, I supposed the closing was snowstorm related. That was not the case. At least three employees found themselves out of a job, and work crews quickly erected wooden enclosures around the pump islands and boarded up the little store. The place took on the appearance of a ghost town in the Old West.
Not to wax prolific about closed gas stations, but there are some things in a man’s life that ought not be subject to change. Among them are plumbers, auto mechanics, and barbers, brands of coffee and ketchup and gas stations.
Life is too short and complicated to be forced to continually cast about searching for replacements for the aforementioned.
A knowledgeable plumber and auto mechanic have the keen ability to restore mental peace of mind to someone, like me, who is a klutz with tools and has only minimal knowledge of engines and plumbing. By minimal I mean faucets should not leak, and one should know where the shut-off valve is when they do. Car motors should make no strange sounds, nor should thumps, growls or screeches emanate from other parts of one’s vehicle. That’s minimal.
A barber knows, without asking, where to clip and trim without having to ask. I have never known what the back of my head should look like, so I can’t tell the length of hair back there. That’s what Sam Repici knows and cuts it without having to ask.
Sam is maybe the fourth long-term barber I have had in life.so As I stated, change isn’t something taken lightly in or on my head.
Good mechanics are the same way, keep them happy and keep them long. They provide greater dividends than a 401 (k) account.
Then, there is the gas station. I get used to a face, maybe not a name, but a face. Seeing a parade of people daily, I certainly never expected a gas station attendant to recall my name. I certainly couldn’t if I was in their shoes. Cars and trucks I might remember, but names? Nah.
Twice lately, when the Saturn Ion needed petrol, I have been forced to visit Brand X station. Wow, what a let down.
Being a cashless believer in plastic, I usually pay for gas with my debit card.
The first visit to Brand X, made when it was snowy and cold, was less than excellent.
I specifically asked the attendant for $20 worth of regular. He was bundled up like Nanook of the North, (which I would have been too). He took my card, uttered something and went off.
“That’s $22.50,” he said. Since it was really a miserable day, I didn’t want to make a big scene, but darn it, I asked for $20 worth. If I had only one $20 bill to buy gas, not a debit card, and he pumped $22.50, what would have happened to the extra $2.50?
As far as I was concerned, he could have siphoned it out.
That never happened at the old Sunoco station.
In a failed attempt to come to grips with reality and address the present and future, I asked if I could please have a credit card application. If I were to become a long-term customer, such a card would likely come in handy in the future.
“We don’t have them anymore,” the attendant said as he walked away.
Second visit to Brand X was nearly as pleasant and as interesting as the first.
I reasoned that, since it was difficult for an attendant to understand that I asked for $20 of regular, I would make like easy and simply ordered, “Five gallons of regular, please.”
Taken aback, the young man asked again what I wanted. “Five gallons of regular.”
“We don’t sell it by gallons, just dollars,” he said.
Having done some really quick math, thanks to my nifty cell phone’s calculator, I replied matter of factly, “Give me $13 dollars worth.”
By his response, I could tell not many folks drive in and ask for $13 worth of regular.
But, that’s what I asked for, and by gosh, that is exactly what I got, a shade over 5.24 gallons at the per gallon price of $2.479.
Can we talk? When did things radically change so that it is impossible to buy gasoline by the gallon at the gas station?
I can see the virtue in not going into a bagel shop and asking for two pounds of sesame seed bagels. It makes sense not to buy three pounds of milk or four pounds of bread, but not to sell gas by the gallon? Wow.
Which brings me back to the opening statement about being the right time to consider buying an electric car. How about it, Brand X? What will happen if enough folks, who despise change, are told they cannot purchase gas by the gallon? What will the attendants do if we buy electric cars and plug them in at the end of each run?
Will those same gas island attendants then assume jobs as electric meter readers? Will they then tell customers, “We don’t sell electricity by the kilowatt, only by the dollar?”
This could well become the winter of my discontent. Maybe it’s my age sneaking up. I’m taking things personally that are not meant that way.
On the bright side, I still have a good barber and good mechanic. I need the latter now even more, since General Motors quit making my kind of car. Even the dealership, where I visited once, went kaput. Change happens, although I hate it.
Take heart, when all else fails, out in the shed reposes a well-worn Hampton Cruiser with comfortable seat and brakes that work and compartments to tote stuff. It’s reliable, and has no fancy gadgets to complicate life.
All it needs is a pump for the tires and I’m good to go. It is not fancy, and it works quite well without need of electricity. In rain it’s messy, that’s why the next car may be a plug-in so I won’t have to buy gas by the dollars or gallons.