They don't pump their own gas in Jersey

A story headline in the 5/17/06 issue of USA Today, a.k.a. McPaper --

N.J. just says no to pumping gas. Governor's plan to allow self-service ignites a backlash

At first, I seriously wondered if this was some kind of joke. I thought full service pumping (hmmm...that sounded kind of creepy) went out in the fifties. In fact, I think in most places it did. If you remember in one of the Back to the Future movies it's visually played up in one scene how these service station guys just rush out and pump the gas, clean the windshield, and check the tire pressure. Well, they could only play the scene that way if full service was anachronistic, out of time, so to speak (again, no pun intended "out of time" was on the license of the DeLorean).

But not in New Jersey where "motorists who need to fill 'er up haven't pumped their own gas in 57 years". Amanda Darian who was quoted in the article said that when she visited other states where self-service was the norm, "I didn't even know how."

Wow. I guess medical waste washing up on the jersey shoreline is not the only thing that distinguishes the home state of the fictional Tony Soprano.