Yesterday, on the first of our two-day journey home to Utah, Shulamith, Eli, and I stopped for lunch in Pendleton, Oregon. We pulled into a service station for gas, and instantly, a nice guy in a bright orange vest came up to my car window and asked how he could help me. Before I could answer, another orange-vested guy proceeded to clean my windshield. I asked the first guy to “fill it with medium grade, please” which he promptly did before wishing me a good day as I paid and drove off.
Next, we pulled into a convenience store to grab Diet Cokes and candy bars for the road. The total cost of those items was $7.59, and that is exactly how much I paid, not a penny more. I returned to my car, and as I merged onto the freeway to continue on to Boise, our destination for the night, drops of rain began to fall onto my freshly cleaned windshield.
And I remembered three of the many reasons I love my home state of Oregon.
Though not unique, Oregon is unusual in that it is one of only two states in the country (the other is New Jersey) where self-service gas is not allowed. It is also one of only five states that does not have a sales tax, Montana, Delaware, Alaska, and New Hampshire being the others. Granted, it isn't the only state that has rain, but it's one of the very few states that has enough rain to make a Pluviophile like me happy.
No standing out in the freezing cold in a skirt and high-heels pumping gas, only to have your hands smell like gasoline for the rest of the day. No stopping to figure in your head how much something will really cost after adding in the sales tax. And on the Western side of the state, enough rain that you usually don't have to go more than a few days without it. Then if you add in the beautifully progressive political climate, it's pretty much heaven, if you ask me.
I love Oregon. What is special about your home state that makes you love it?
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