Today they only pump gas, or rather you pump the gas, but when I was a kid
and when I started to drive, they were called service stations. You ran over a
hose which rang the bell, and an attendant showed up, filled you with gas, or
“two dollars worth” as my mother always said, they washed your windshield, and
off you went. Stacks of oil and trans fluid stood by the pump for when needed,
but it was inside the small office where the good stuff was. Maybe they had a
Coke machine, sold cigarettes, or even candy, but the major brands were highly
merchandised with auto related products bearing their company name. And each
one of our Dad’s had his station. One friend’s father preferred the ESSO
station, Henry’s dad owned the Texaco, and Willie, who lived next door, owned
the Gulf station. And each store carried all these goods just in case they were
needed, and allowed the owner enough profit to stayin business. Making 2-3
cents on 22 cent/gallon gas was no way to make a living, these items helped.
From polishes, oil treatments, patch kits, glass cleaner, white wall cleaner,
and insect repellent, it was these items that boosted their profit. In this day
of free goodies just to get you in, they needed to sell anything and everything
they could, including service. But it was the big items, the tires and snow
tires, the batteries, the big ticket items that were a mainstay. Buy the snow
tires from them, and every fall you had them installed, and then in the spring
taken off, with a chance to sell an extra set of rims for them. Each fall when
you winterized the car, and had the battery checked, the slowcranking meant no
cranking when it got cold, and the service station could sell you the battery
before you had to call AAA. How many dads had a Humble Oil/Atlas battery, the
trademark of ESSO? Texaco snow tires? Only used Sunoco oil at their 3000 mile
oil and lube? Or knew that Good Gulf was good enough gas, so used their other
products when needed. Need wipers, installed while you sit in your car while it
pours outside. Yes, it was this TBA, tires, batteries, and accessories that
brought in extra income, and would make the difference between profit and loss.
It started early with the kids, and as we got older we too went to ours father’s
station. Things have changed today, as we shop for the cheapest gas, there is
no service, and all the TBA now consists of beer and soda sales, add in chips
and beef jerky and they are now called convenience stores. I prefer the old
convenience we used to have....
Remember when maps were free also, just another way to get their name in
front of you, now an i-something has taken its place. It seems back then there
was a product for every need, and some for needs that were only desires. You
stopped for gas, but they hoped you would need something else, or buy something
on impulse. Today as then, too many sales are made on impulse, just check out
the check out lines, quick moving high profit items while you wait to pay for
your purchase. Same in gas stations, as TBA was not only sometime spontaneous,
but also interesting. Would your whitewalls ever get clean again? Were Atlas
batteries better? What was 3 in 1 oil? All these things my dad used to say no
to, but that someday we knew we would. Such was a trip for gas for my parents,
much different for my kids and me now. The one stop shopping the gas stations
offered is now called convenience, and all I wanted was a Big Gulp. But while I
was there.....the secret to successful marketing, either increase customer
count, or dollars per visit. Worked then, still works today....well, sorta.
Our cars were not our own, just as our bodies aren’t our own. Yet many
live the life of “it’s all about me,” a far cry from the early Jews who realized
everything came from God, and they had specific sacrifices for each. But it too
has gotten out of control, where the holiday is more important the the reason
for it, and far away from the God we celebrate. Blood sacrifices were required,
to remind them of the cost of redemption after a life had been taken. Blood for
blood. He was teaching that sin had eternal consequences, and it goes farther
than just a church service or exercise of the mind. It takes participation, and
Jesus set the example, all for us to be reunited to his father in heaven.
Everything he did he pointed to God, do we do anything that points to Jesus? In
their sacrifices they honored the fact that God had a rightful place in their
lives, and they called him Lord, he owned them, they were his. And we become
God’s property when we come to Christ, our bodies no longer are our own, and you
do not have the right to do with the things of God whatever you want. Sin has a
price, and just like the TBA that was offered, someday we might need it, and
that someday is now. An important aspect of becoming a Christian is to
recognize the rights of God, and live within them. We do have a free will, but
that free will was bought and paid for. We all have choices to make, and
starting with Jesus makes the difference in all the others we make. Just like
some men were ESSO men, or Texaco, Sinclair, or Gulf, we get to be children of
God, of the living God. And as children we get his inheritance, his rights, and
his wisdom, and so God has a place in our lives and decisions. He earned
it!
“You can trust your car to the man who wears the star!” Texaco boasts. Do
we trust our lives with the one who made the stars and put them in place? Do we
winterize our lives for the next season, do we add oil when needed, do we wait
until it’s raining to replace the wiper blades? A common occurrence was dads in
the neighborhood lining up for snow tires and waiting when the first snow hit,
when only weeks before they were on special and no waiting needed. Or send
their wives because they had failed. Back then service stations catered to the
the ladies, who liked to be fussed over. You just knew that the Gulf company
had something just for them too. So do we listen to the warnings, or wait until
it is too late? God sent his son, are you sending your wife for putting off
what is needed yesterday?
Jesus knows our needs for today and tomorrow. He has already made the
sacrifice for our sin, and by his spirit we can be guided. We have all the
wisdom of the heavens here on earth, do we use it? Or are we suckers, putting
off till tomorrow the blessings we should have had today? Fram reminds us “pay
me now or pay me later.” Today will be later for some of us, and too late for
others. Gas station owners knew what we needed, it was our choice to make. But
today no more TBA, RIP,TBA, the offerings are still there, but no one to guide
us. No relationship with the guy who filled your tank and washed your
windshield. Self service leads to self service lives, still we are not our
own. Thousands of years ago, the Jewish people knew that, do we? Our dads
worshipped at the station of their choice, they had a relationship with them.
If it works for TBA, tires, batteries, and accessories, imagine what it can do
with the creator? ESSO wanted us to put a tiger in our tank, have you let Jesus
into your heart? It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark...only those who
were God’s got in. Father still knows best today, yet some still live life a
quart low. If the love of Christ doesn’t appear on your dipstick, turn to Jesus
now, and put a lion in yours. And trust your life to the man who made the
stars!
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com