Flashback Friday

When I was a kid, it was a big deal when Mom or Dad drove the car up the street to get gas at the filling station.  Yes, I realize that I'm probably one of the few people that still use the term "filling station" but that's what my family called it and it just stuck with me.  But I digress.  Now, when we need gas, we usually stop at the local convenience store on our way to or from work, and more often than not we find ourselves coasting up to the gas pump on fumes.  With gas prices over $3 a gallon here in the 'Ville, I don't know too many people who go to the gas pump and fill 'er up like our folks did back in the day. But back then, the filling station was more than a place to get gas - it was also a full-service repair shop, too. 

My family's filling station of choice was Jarrard's Gulf station just up the street.  Mom or Dad would drive the family Impala up there, and would get the tank filled up, and would get the oil checked and get the windows cleaned while they waited for the gas to finish pumping.  I don't think I ever remember my parents going to the filling station and telling them "Let me get five of regular" like we do today when we don't use our debit card and have to talk to the clerk through the intercom and tell them "Five on pump number six."  They always filled the car up, a practice they still do today. 

In the unlikely event that something broke and the car needed a repair, Dad would take it up to Jarrard's Gulf, too.  There was no dropping it off and picking it up in a day or two;  more often than not, Dad would just wait there and chat with the owner or read a magazine while he waited for the repair work to be done.  Yep, they did it that quick.  And the service was excellent; there was no having to go back a time or two because the shop didn't fix what you told them to fix - they did it right the first time.

As I dealt with a repair issue on my Blazer for almost a week now, I long for the days when we had a full service station in our neighborhood, especially one that was fast, thorough and reasonable.  And one where you could get Wonderful World of Disney place mats when every fill-up.