> There could have been regulations requiring workers to wear respirators.

It's already absurd on its face that everywhere else in the country - or hell, in the _world_ - just lets people pump their own gas. Having gas station attendants in respirators in Oregon would just take it to a whole new level.

>in the _world_

... not Japan. Or at least, not when I lived there. Maybe things have moved on.

ハイオクで満タンお願いします

그러나 나는 이해하지 않는다

How long ago was that?

I have been living in Japan for almost 5 years, and I usually pump my own gas. It depends on the gas station though, many (usually the small ones) are still full-service only.

2012.

It depends. A lot of stations off the expressway have full service where they fill your gas and offer to clean your windshields. Also depends on where, I still find a lot of full-service stations in Hokkaido.

According to industry report, only 37% of gas station is self-service. It's fewer than I expected, as I only go for cheaper self gas station.

> in the world

Sample of countries that don't permit self-service gas: Mexico, including Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Morocco, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, and Uruguay. See https://itif.org/publications/2019/07/29/self-service-gas-in...

As an inhabitant from Belgium: self-service gas is permitted. In fact, I can't think of any gas station where you don't self-service. I wouldn't trust that article too much.

E.g. here is a random photo of a gas station. No room for an attendant:

https://www.google.be/maps/place/Esso+Express/@51.0211239,3....

Good to know! The only country I can confirm on that list having attendants is Thailand.

In Brazil, self-service gas stations have been illegal since 2000 [1]. I remember that in the 90s some gas stations tried to implement this model, and I think it didn’t gain traction because of a mix of unions being against it and the general public just not liking it.

[1]: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l9956.htm

China also.

I'm not sure about not permitting, but I remember getting gas for a rental car in Paris, from one of these sidewalk places (looks nothing like a gas station; parisians, hopefully you know what I mean), and I sure was happy when the attendant came out to pump it for me. I wouldn't have known what to do at all.

You can’t pump your own gas in New Jersey either.

Have you been to one of these stations in Oregon, especially anywhere rural (which is most of the state)? I can guarantee you these folks will not want to wear any kind of “mask.”

and there is rub, or at least part of it.

If you got gas at one of those stations it is because it was open. being open cost an employee even when no one show up which in a sparsely populated area is usually. The only rational response is to limit hours. now you have a condition where people over a wide area are being blocked from being able to buy gas when ever they want like the people in the city who are preventing them just take for granted.

These paper cuts accumulate add in some divisive propaganda and here we are.

source: I'm one of those city folk now.

Just because you're a covid truther doesn't mean that you will refuse to wear protective gear in general. I'd be willing to bet that most of the people in the US at this very moment who are wearing protective gear for their jobs are covid truthers to some extent, because anti-maskers are pretty numerous among people who work with their hands and backs.

I’d wager that it’s about doing something different than has been done with clear risk. No one wears respirators pumping gas, and if the gov starts mandating it I don’t think it’s a huge leap to assume push back.

Rural gas stations in Oregon mostly don’t have attendants already.

class action lawsuits don't benefit the victims, who have cancer bills to pay for. They give up the right to sue for a proper amount by not realizing they had to opt out of something they didn't even know existed

I once worked in a hospital laundry. We were supposed to wear hazmat suits as ppe, but no one actually provided them, and honestly, we probably would not have worn them due to the heat. I doubt anyone working at a gas station would actually follow the correct safety procedures.