The Holy Grail

So on the way home from work today I noticed that my tank was nearing empty, so I decided to roll into the gas station near my apartment and get filled up. Now, the peculiarity of New Jersey gas stations is that the state is one of only two that lacks any self-service stations by law. Essentially they have an attendant that has the mind-blowingly difficult job of plugging the pump into your tank and putting it on auto-fill. That's it.

Now, there are obvious pros and cons to this kind of system. It means that in the wintertime you don't have to mess with the notion of filling your tank at all, something that in Minnesota (without gloves) could be a pretty painful consequence of driving. It doesn't confer any extra cost, because you're not really required to tip the attendant (though I did today because I appreciated the speedy service) and with Jersey's gas tax being quite low the gas is cheaper anyway. Unfortunately, the biggest downside is that getting a tankful can take up to twice as long as one you do yourself just because odds are one guy is serving 2-4 other people at the same time.

Anyway, after getting filled up I drove half a block to the nearby 7-11 and decided to do something I'd not yet done in my life - actually try a Slurpee. With how big a deal The Simpsons made of "Squishees" back in the day I've always wanted to try one. There were several flavors (one based on the Hulk, a red cherry) and being the avid fan of raspberry flavors I went for the blue variety with the Mountain Dew logo. A mistake, to be sure. Essentially it tastes like Code Red if Code Red sucked even more and they halfheartedly threw in a squirt of blue raspberry flavor.

I haven't given up on Slurpees yet though. Next time I find myself in 7-11 I'll give a different flavor a chance and hopefully this time it won't end up only 20% consumed. Perhaps my enjoyment of Dunkin Donuts and Five Guys lately has raised my hopes for "regional" food out here to be a little too high...