Things that were better in the “Good Old Days” … free air! #TBT

Posted By on October 20, 2022

OldAir_mNow, I’m not quite old enough to have regularly used this kind of service garage air station to fill car tires for FREE, but I have used them AND it still triggers memories: Do you remember the “bump, bump, bump” surging as air  filled the tires?

As I’ve mentioned twice before, one of my first real jobs was as a pump jockey at a Shell Oil service station. I wore the full uniform, did windows and received a 25 cent commission for every quart of oil I sold. At 16 years old I was shock at how many packs of cigarette we had to stock in the overhead bins and then sell to motorists … I want to say it was 50-cent a pack, but can’t be certain as inflation was raging in the 1970s just as it is today. I do know that $2.35 was my hourly wage and that I felt very fortunate to have the after school and weekend job while still in high school. Since I was also a stringer photographer for the local newspaper (usually sporting events), the manager would schedule me around the the high school games.

Looking back, it was a pretty nice job and offered those who preferred “service and a smile” a nice place to fill up and top off.

Comments

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog