Gas pump question

[Ed79]

Most of the pumps here have no catches so your forced to hold onto the pump the entire time your pumping fuel!

[TomO]

I actually found one of the older pumps that has three catches and one of them is the super slow setting! I was stoked. I got to wash both windshields, tail lights and headlights in the time it took to fill 9 gallons, lol.

I consider myself very lucky now and just hope that they don't replace that pump anytime soon.

[Ford Man]

I just filled up at Walmart a little while ago and noticed their pump also had 3 preset catches.

[MadisonMPG]

Walmart has 3 here. I use the slowest, still fills up faster than a Tahoe.

[jamesqf]

But how much did your dad make per hour? Back in those days, that $5 fillup might have represented an hour's work.

Today, I can still go more than 300 miles on a $20 bill (though it looks like I'm only going to make it about 3 weeks on the last $20, instead of my usual month...), and fill my tank (about 700 miles of driving) for less than what I make for an hour's work.

[TomO]

You have a point, Jamesgf. We do make more money per hour than our parents did even including inflation.

I do miss the good old days of the slower pumps though. Maybe the faster pumps help reduce the amount of escaping vapors while pumping?

[SentraSE-R]

Individual incomes vary all across the spectrum, and are meaningless. Compare a minimum wage worker's buying power, or a starting janitor's salary 40 years ago to today, and the average Joe is not able to buy as much fuel, or car, house, food, etc. The American dream is slipping out of Joe Six-pack's ability to attain it.

In 1970, the minimum wage was $1.60 in today's dollars, gas was $.25/gallon, and a car cost $2000.

Today, minimum wage is $7.25, gas is $3.60, and a car costs $18,000.

Wages have gone up 453%. In the meantime, gas has gone up 1440%, and cars have gone up 900%

[gone-ot]

...since 1970, the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) has consistently increased by roughly 4.5% each year over year, so $100(1970) dollars would today be $570(2011) dollars.

...or about 5.7-times ratio!

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

Compare a minimum wage worker's buying power, or a starting janitor's salary 40 years ago to today, and the average Joe is not able to buy as much fuel, or car, house, food, etc. The American dream is slipping out of Joe Six-pack's ability to attain it.

Since when is your minimum wage Joe Sixpack the average American, though? Joe's pretty close to the bottom of the scale, really. (Though Jose seems to prosper even further down.)

In 1970, the minimum wage was $1.60 in today's dollars, gas was $.25/gallon, and a car cost $2000.

But the price of a decent used car, which is what Joe (and everybody in the next several levels up) would buy was maybe in the $500 range (IIRC - I'm going by memory here). Indeed, looking back I can't actually recall anyone I knew ever buying a new car.

Today, minimum wage is $7.25, gas is $3.60, and a car costs $18,000.

But you can buy a decent used car for a couple of thousand - and it's a far better car than anything built in those days.

[SentraSE-R]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Since when is your minimum wage Joe Sixpack the average American, though? Joe's pretty close to the bottom of the scale, really. (Though Jose seems to prosper even further down.)

Spare us your racist stereotyping BS. You don't improve your credibility with your gratuitous editorializing.

In 1972, a federal entry level GS-5, step 1 job earned $7,319/year. Today, it only earns the worker $27,431/year. That's only a 374% increase - far less than the 1440% increase in gas, and the 900% increase in cars. Average incomes don't mean much if you have 10000 Joes earning $25,000, and 100 millionaires to raise the average income to $35,000. That's how our US economy is skewed, and the average income doesn't tell the story of the average Joe's loss of earning and purchasing power.

Originally Posted by jamesqf

But the price of a decent used car, which is what Joe (and everybody in the next several levels up) would buy was maybe in the $500 range (IIRC - I'm going by memory here). Indeed, looking back I can't actually recall anyone I knew ever buying a new car.

Just like salaries, used car prices are all over the map. I used new cars, because they're a relatively standard yardstick, not because they're actually purchased by minimum wage earners.