Plum Fierce

I am a huge believer in buying the cheapest gas in town.  If the oil companies want my money they will have to take it from me in the smallest increments possible.  I will bypass a station that sells for $3.15 a gallon and risk running out of gas to buy it at $3.139.  I'm a member in good standing of AAA and if I run out some poor guy will deliver a couple of gallons for FREE so I can continue on my way to save a penny. 

Oregon has some funny rules and one of them is that you can't pump your own gas.  It is required that you wait in your car while the attendant swipes your card and dispenses the very expensive liquid that your Guzzler devours to produce noise and motion.  I have no problem with that - it reminds me of a simpler time when this was the norm. 

When I first started to drive attendants would actually swarm my car when I pulled in to fillerupwithethyl.  Nobody who was anybody would think to use regular gas.  The hood would be opened, various fluid levels would be checked, the air pressure in my tires verified, the windows (all of them) would be cleaned  AND the tank would be filled.  A quarter a gallon used to buy a lot. 

I'm not sure what would happen to me if I actually got out and tried to pump my own gas in this state.  I've done a cursory search but can find no mention of penalties and I did not have to anwser that question on the test to get my Oregon drivers license.  In any case, I'm not inclined to leave  the comfort of my Guzzler Deluxe to find out just what the consequences are.  I've worked hard all my life and deserve to be pampered.

We have two stations that compete with each other to have the lowest price in town.  One is The Towne Pump and the other is Plum Fierce.  When everyone else sells for the above mentioned $3.15 per gallon both of our low price leaders sell for $3.139.  Being the discerning man of the world that I am, I naturally chose to buy from The Towne Pump.  The "E" on the end of "Towne" is just so distinguished!  Besides, who ever heard of a gas station called Plum Fierce?  Has to be a bad joke, right? 

So, I would brave the crowds usually encountered at the lowest price in town, wait for long periods to get to the pump, then wait for even longer periods for the attendant to show up to put the nozzle in the tank and the final injustice of it all, I would wait until long after I had heard the click of the nozzle shutting off the delivery for the attendant to remove the nozzle and allow me to continue on my way.

Then one day I forgot I needed gas and mistakenly drove past The Towne Pump.  Remembering that Plum Fierce was several blocks further down the street, I figured "What the heck?  Let's give them a try". 

I drove right up to the pump.  No wait at all!  I guess most everyone else in town are also discerning men of the world and think the "E" is special.  The attendant was at the side of the Guzzler Deluxe in a flash, washed the windshield while the gas was being delivered, and then promptly presented me with a receipt.  Was this an aberration?   I hope not.  But, I will find out.  The next time I need gas I'm going to Plum Fierce.