The Gas Station Onesie

I can still remember the exasperating beeping of my alarm clock. When I was 14 that darn alarm clock woke me up every summer workday at 3:30 am. Without fail the first thing I would do is hit the snooze button and the second thing I would do was to cringe at the thought of putting that uncomfortable polyester service station outfit on, I’m talking a full body, old school, front zip up, polyester, gas station onesie!

The 1980’s gas stations were very different than stations of today. Back then, the uniforms were inflexible and durable because the attendants checked car engines, changed oil, filled tires, clean windows and pumped gas for customers. Today, the full-Service gas station been replaced by the self-service convenience station.

No longer do we see teenage attendants teetering on a stool to be able to reach and check the car engines. Gone to are the days of service station employees manually filling a patron’s gas tank. In 2022 gas station attendants are ringing up customers inside the air-conditioned convenience store. To add insult to injury, today’s service station employees get to wear much more comfortable outfits, which I am sure is not a polyester onesie but I digress.

Remarkable changes in technology (and in the gas station uniform) have improved the workplace and subsequently boosted efficiency and productivity. A company’s growth of earnings and profits is a direct correlation to the stock market over time and I believe that we are entering a decade of enhanced productivity growth.

This improvement in productivity within companies is expected, over time, to facilitate rise of stock prices. Within the last twenty years amazing technology has and continues to be created, and now we are entering a phase where companies are utilizing this technology to solve problems, create a more efficient manufacturing process, enhance customer experience, and amplify profitability.

When I was a 14-year-old gas station attendant, it was commonplace for me to accidentally spill gasoline on myself while trying to remove the gas pump. As I returned the handle to the pump and hung my head in shame, I would daydream about a day when I was the customer sitting inside my air-conditioned car watching a teenager dispense gas… with no chance of going home smelling like gasoline.

Fast forward to today, as I was pumping my own gas and recollecting my afore mentioned daydream, I was not paying attention and over filled my tank, causing some gas to spill onto my 100 percent venetian cotton polo shirt. I was startled to the fact by the gas station attendant’s voice booming over the intercom from her air-conditioned kiosk, “YOU’RE OVER FILLING THE GAS!”

I recoiled the handle and cut off the gas flow. As I hung my head in shame, I looked down at the irreparable damage the gas had done to my expensive, non-polyester polo shirt. Driving away in my air-conditioned car and smelling strongly of gasoline, I finally understood and felt a sentimental appreciation for that polyester gas station onesie.