Which side to pump gas from

Try them you might become a convert if you can’t find them in a store you can find them on line.

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We love grits with cheese and steamed shrimp. It’s super easy to make. Hydrate the grits on the stove for about 7 minutes, stir in shredded cheese, and steam the shrimp while the grits cook.

sounds good. except for the shrimp. I think I am allergic to see food. the last time I had seafood years ago I got hives

No Wawa in TX, I use Quick Trip, very nice inside, good price top tier gas. I’ve been to a Buckee’s once, didn’t do much for me, lots of stuff I’d never buy, huge.

Quick Trip, a.k.a. QT, has a major presence in St. Louis. Most of their locations do a good job of maintaining the pumps and keeping both the outside area and the convenience store clean.

Most other gas stations also have convenience stores varying from small and basic to a few that compete with QT in size and offerings.

I know of only one old-fashioned full service gas station in my part of the metro area. It’s also the only remaining Sinclair station I know of anywhere near. It has full service pumps and a couple of mechanic service bays. No convenience store. And they are closed Sundays and evenings. They have plenty of loyal customers.

They call them hoagies at the Wawas down here, and they’re quite good.

I’m at a loss of thinking of even one gas station that doesn’t have a convenience store around here. I do know of ONE that’s in a small town about 40 miles north of here.

Would a full size grocery store with a gas station in the parking lot under it’s name count I am thinking Kroger that is in my area or something like Costo that is not in my area other than that I can not remember when I last time I saw a stand alone gas station without a convenience store.

No, we don’t have the phenomenon of supermarkets with gas stations in the parking lot around here. Yes, many Costcos have a gas station, but not all of them.

Most of our gas stations–whether they be Shell, or Exxon, or Conoco, or Sunoco, or Delta, or BP are stand-alone stations. The only ones that have convenience stores are Speedway (Marathon’s off-price stations), some Valero stations, and–of course–Wawa and Quick Check, which were originally just convenience stores, but which later added gas pumps.

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Do you think that maybe so many stand alone stations might be because of New Jersey’s no self service law?

I’m really not sure that the “no self service” regulation plays into it. I think it is more likely that the fact that we are the most congested state does have something to do with it. When a bunch of old structures are town down and a convenience store is built in their place, those con stores invariably have gas pumps.

The fact is that we have a lot of gas stations that have sat on the same footprint for decades, and they are frequently surrounded by other businesses, thus making it difficult for them to expand.

An example close to my house is the local Shell station, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. I suppose that the owners could build a convenience store by leveling some of their corn fields that adjoin the station, but instead they chose to sell much of their land to a home builder. And now, we’re going to have even more congestion when those homes are built.
:woozy_face:

Edited to add:
A really strange phenomenon is taking place in my town. There is a very large assisted-living facility for well-heeled elderly folks. The parking lot in front of the facility is huge–or at least it USED to be huge. The local zoning board approved the construction of a convenience store w/ gas station in that lot, and it will be opening soon. Weird…

That is weird gets you wondering what the zoning board was thinking.

Back in the 70’s we had the same thing going on the farmers found out they could sell to home builders and make more money with less work than raising crops.

Something that I have been hearing since the '70s is that one of the best ways to become rich is to sit on a local zoning board–whose members don’t actually receive a salary. There are persistent rumors about envelopes full of cash being passed to them just before a crucial vote.

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I normally don’t pay attention to rumors unless they are about elected or appointed officials then it a good chance it is true.

I have heard essentially the same rumor in 5 different towns, in 3 different counties, so I have a feeling that it’s not a fantasy.

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Will have to agree on that but it is not only in your area it is all over the place where there is big money to be made.