Growing up in the sixties, I can remember going to get gas with my parents,
they always bought $2 worth when the gauge showed half full. Usually filling
the tank, and while being filled, having their windshield washed, oil checked,
and tires checked. All by Willie or his brother, our neighbor. You knew the
man who pumped your gas, and he knew you. You were a customer, and after giving
you your S&H Green Stamps, thanked you,and wished you a good day. Just like
so many other stations across the US of A did everyday. And with gas prices
competitive at 25 cents a gallon, they worked hard for your business. And so
the gas companies came up with promos. Double stamp Tuesdays, maybe a deal on a
lube job on Thursdays, or a special on one of their branded products. But the
most popular way to get you in, was giveaways. Incentives to come in, anything
from furry Tiger tails from Esso, to hang off your fuel door, to a pair of
orange horseshoes to stick on your trunk for Gulf No Nox. Many stations gave
away free glasses, big tumblers with Disney or Looney Tunes characters, the
station logo on the glass to remind you where to get next week’s glass-got to
have the complete set. I even had a Sunoco “I can be very friendly” t-shirt,
paid $2 for that one. But the ones I remember the best, the most functional
ones, were the trucks. A red 1950’s Texaco tanker with a sort nose GMC cab
pulling it. Getting to us kids at a young age, where else would we turn for
fuel after the many miles spent driving that truck around our den. And at
Christmas, all kinds of cool toys, again a Texaco gas station, perfectly sized
for my Matchbox cars a favorite. They were toys, meant to be played with, and
usually played with until they wore out, or passed down to the next in line. Or
until they wouldn’t hold air anymore like my Sinclair Dino the dinosaur
inflatable.
Not many of those promo tools/toys are around today, and fetch big bucks
when they do, such is the cost of memories. And always wondered how some made
it, and mine never did. Toys were for playing, glasses for drinking, and Tiger
tials and horseshoes for decorating your dad’s car-until he pulled them off,
warning you to not do it again, until the next time. But somehow these items
were saved, preserved, and today bring big bucks at auction. The trucks in
particular my favorite. Hess this year is applying to have its line of toy
trucks admitted to the National Toy Hall of Fame. For 50 years they have been a
Christmas staple, selling out quickly to many who remember them as a kid, and
collecting them even today. Sometimes the only visit that year to Hess is to
buy one! And now this popular piece of petroliana is seeking Hall of Fame
status. Disregarding the fact that for many years it was already in the hall of
fame of many childhood memories.
Funny how at 25 cents per gallon stations couldn’t afford not to give these
items away, and at $4 per gallon they can’t afford to. Somehow Hess ahs carried
on the tradition, with some concerned now over how or if Hess wil continue, they
just sold to Marathon Oil. I hope this is one tradition Marathon keeps. But as
today gas stations are no longer service stations, you pay by credit card at the
pumps, you pump yourself, and the only time you talk to someone is when the
receipt won’t print, and you are forced to go to the window, the 2” thick glass
window, where you are grunted at, and given a receipt, no thank you, no tiger
tails, no I can be very friendly. NO personal contact at all, almost like you
were doing them a favor. No wonder they aren’t call service stations any
more.
And brand loyalty is only where your credit card takes you. Shopping for
the best prices the key, no other incentives. Causing us to no longer have a
one to one relationship to the man filling our car-we filled our own
motorcycles, then and now, and dealing with nameless faces, with names we cannot
pronounce behind the bullet proof glass, when forced to. Times are changing,
but maybe it is the people changing the times. But when change comes, we have
trouble adjusting to it. And the wise seek to investigate it. Just like the
apostles did in Antioch. Word had reached them that Gentiles, those that the
Jews thought were meant to fire the fires of hell, were being saved. The church
was growing, changing, and they need to make sure if its true-and real. So they
sent Barnabas to find out. And so Barney went, not to control it, but to check
it out. To see if it was real. And they sent Barney for three reasons-he was a
good man, full of the spirit, and full of faith. Three great characteristics
even today, who wouldn’t welcome a man like this. He was a good man, could be
trusted, was kind and friendly. Not unlike Willie filling my Mother’s Rambler,
while washing her windows. He was cheerful and grateful, a man of manners. So
different from the whatever attitude of today, he would have answered “you’re
welcome” when thanked. Giving you one final reason to return. Making it
personal.
He was in the spirit. The fruit of the spirit being evident in his life.
Love, joy, peace, patience he had. He was good and kind, long suffering and had
self control. He was this way because of drawing on the power of the spirit,
instead of trying to do it himself. Like Jesus, he was led by the spirit, and
the evidence was there to prove it. He was the man who gave away the promo
goodies, and maybe gave extra stamps to the poor when needed. Always a smile,
and could be trusted. When he said you were a quart low, you were. The spirit
always knows these things, and Barney was in the spirit.
And as a man of faith, he didn’t question what God showed him,
he acted on it. Men of faith hear and then act because they believe. It wasn’t
and isn’t about us, or how we feel, it is about Jesus. When we trust God and
recognize He will do something, we act on it. Faith that can move mountains, or
fill gas tanks. A type of faith mentioned in Hebrews, Faith Hall of Fame, but
you can have the same faith without being famous. Barnabas got things done,
acting in faith as the spirit moved him. What moves us? Are we even
movable?
Recently when I saw a Texaco toy station, the memories of good
times came rushing back. I was the kid asking “fill’er up?” or the driver of
the tanker dropping fuel. I was the guy saving my Green Stamps in hope of a
prize. I was a good man, had faith, but until I was Born Again didn’t have the
spirit. Many nice guys out there have faith, but without the spirit to guide
them, it is useless. We need to be a servant like Barnabas, to go when and
where ordered to, and to accept change, when God does it. To collect the
collectibles of love and peace, showing them by being kind and friendly. We
need to be the man asking the lost if we can “fill ‘er up?” with some love from
Jesus. We need to share our collection with others, and not hoard it. for love
is like a toy, unless played with and enjoyed, it is only an emotion, like a toy
still in its box. Only valuable until it opened, but never enjoyed for what it
truly was designed for. Show love and courtesy before it needed. Set a the
pattern of joy to be returned, and watch as the spirit moves you, and faith
becomes an action, not a belief. The fruit of the spirit is best enjoyed when
in evidence, just like our old toys were. Trust Jesus today, he’s still full
service, and the blessings are plentiful. To be shared and not collected for
later, share some today. If only I had the $250 dollars for that Texaco
station....
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com