Tuesday, September 21, 2010

You Cant Do That In Jersey...

I just don't understand automobile laws in Jersey. They just don't make sense to me. First, you can't pump your own gas and second, half the time you aren't allowed to turn left. It makes life a little frustrating.

I know that people in NJ don't pump their own gas, which I think is bizzare and ill prepares residents for life elsewhere, but when I went to get gas the other day, as a creature of habit I got out of my car. Of course, the attendent stopped me and pumped the gas for me, but I can't help but think it's awkward. I am fully capable of pumping gas. And I feel bad just sitting there on my phone watching them. I feel like they are gas slaves. I dont want a servant. I dont think they get tipped so lets just save time and effort and just let me pump it myself. It's like valet parking! (see a few blogs back from Texas). Drives me crazy. I suppose it's nice that you don't have to get out of the car in the rain or cold, but then you have an awkward 6 minutes hanging out with some random guy. That just makes me uncomfortable. This particular gas guy (do they have an official title that sounds better than that?!) sang me a song, in Spanish. No clue what it was.

My other gripe about Jersey driving is the lack of left turns. Today, I was right next to Macys. All I had to do was turn left off the main road into the parking lot. Other cars, coming from other directions of the intersection were going into that entrance and I didn't see any signs saying I couldn't, but when I slowed down and put my blinker on, THREE cars behind me laid on their horns. I figured they were in a rush. The woman behind me was flailing her arms and screaming at me. I wasn't happy with these pushy folks, but I kept driving straight, right past the mall. Then every time I would try to turn left, there were big signs saying I couldn't turn left. I drove for a long long time, into another town because I couldn't get off the road (there were 3 lanes of packed traffic to my right and I couldn't get over). I actually ended up at a whole other Macy's. Probably because no one could get to the first one. It's like that Macys is for people who live on that side of the road. The others aren't allowed there. So frustrating! Only later did I find out that this is pretty common in New Jersey. Why cant you turn left?! Why can't you pump gas?!

People in the other states seem to manage alright pumping their gas and making left turns. I haven't heard of too many people blowing up gas stations.

Being the curious person I am, I tried to Google this left turn rule and couldn't find anything about it, but as for the gas situation, here's what I found:

New Jersey and Oregon are the only two states which you can not pump your own gas. Only a gas station owner or employee can legally pump gas in these states. New Jersey passed the law making it illegal to pump your own gas in 1949. At the time, legislators felt it was too dangerous to have untrained people dispensing such a flammable liquid.

Who knew I was so highly trained and capable.
Can that go on my resume?

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