[ovulator]

As dumb as this law was, I think it will make road trips a little less magical as a Washingtonian. It was like driving into this strange land with these strange customs. That little anxiety where you pull up to what would be a routine gas fill up and have to wonder, what exactly is the protocol here? How do I not offend the locals?

[code_duck]

My experience with the gas filling in the region was:

- pull up to station in Oregon unaware, exit the vehicle and approach the pump. An attendant runs up to me yelling "You can't do that!! That's DANGEROUS!!"

- pull up to station in Washington, sit there. Didn't realize I was in Washington and nobody was coming to pump my gas.

- not knowing whether I am supposed to tip the attendants in Oregon. Different people told me varying things.

- feeling relieved to be in Washington and being able to simply pump my own gas without talking to anyone

Some Oregonians told me they enjoyed not having to get out of their car and thought the system was great. Also many had never pumped gas in their entire lives and weren't comfortable doing it when in other states. If this system existed in very cold places I've lived like Northern Minnesota I would have been quite happy about it - I don't mind a little wind and rain, but getting out to pump gas when it's -20 with a 30 degree wind chill is not comfortable.

[rootusrootus]

> How do I not offend the locals?

That sounds so weird. Washingtonians and Oregonians are frightfully similar as it is. For better or worse :). I can't imagine it being any more magical than an Oregonian wondering what the protocol is for self-service when they go across the river.

[Rediscover]

East-coaster, now in Seattle for almost three decades.

Yeah, Oregonians and Washingtonians share some strange behaviors, but there are many things pretty alien between the two.

Handling of minor riots, drunkenness (on your own property, or not -- ok, sleeping on your front lawn), tipping, public transit (in populated areas), shopping, strip clubs, ... Wow.

[rootusrootus]

That's an interesting perspective, in my experience on basically all of those issues I don't see a notable difference in attitude between Oregon & Washington. There's a pretty big shift in mindset going to the east side of either state, but west of the Cascades it might as well be the same state.

[Rediscover]

Completely agree about going to the east side [of each state].

[ksenzee]

We're almost identical, which is one reason why the gas thing is so weird: these seemingly identical people have an entire set of unknown customs around an everyday activity. I wouldn't call it magical. I would call it uncomfortable. Glad to see the end of it.