For some reason, due to the recent revelation that citizens of Oregon have never pumped their own gas into their vehicles in their lives, those people feel more foreign to me than a Russian or Pole does. Even they have to drag themselves out of their cars in the ice cold, cursing silently, as they wait for their car to slowly fill up. But Oregonians have never done this. Instead, an attendant comes out and does it for them. Which wouldn’t be bad at all if it were occurring in a free market. But Oregon’s government has, until recently, mandated that attendants only can pump gas. The reaction from Oregonians themselves is hilarious, but fascinating:
It’s normal for every single person in most other states to pump their own gas. Oregon’s citizens know this. Yet their attitude is one of the above. Maybe it’s another example of government’s ability to infantilize its population. And maybe that attitude is not quite representative of all Oregonians.
