Osler's Razor

They aren't making money on their gas sales. They are making money on their cigarette sales. I thought this was obvious.
 

Also, take an aerial look at NJ in the area of Bayonne/Newark - it is all refineries and storage tanks. Being a small state it doesn't cost as much to distribute the fuel. I would also guess the state and local taxes on gasoline are low or non-existent. In NC we have state and county gas taxes added to the per gallon cost.
 

Also, if you have an attendant pumping the gasoline you are guaranteed to pay. In the old days you didn't pay at the pump and the pump wasn't 'locked' or controlled from inside the station so it was easy to steal gasoline.
 

Aha! I've always wondered why back in high school you were constantly in and out of jail...
 

I don't know, but I do know that if you live in the Hudson Valley you ALWAYS try to get gas in Jersey. And if you're like my stepfather, you always "forget" that the attendant pumps the gas, and you usually end up with a 100 year old gas-station employee screaming at you in Greek. And everyone else in the car feels very uncomfortable.
 

I would love this. Especially when the temperature gets freaky cold. My shoes always smell like gasoline from attempting to pump it myself. Very difficult to maintain an elegant air about oneself,when one reaks of gasoline. I like to talk to real human beings and that Greek guy probably has a few stories I could sweet-talk out of him--I don't give up on people easily. Old crabby people need jobs too.I have a very strong nostalgia with regards to the old service stations from the '50s. Mostly because we got to go in and buy Orange Crush in bottles from the tricky but interesting pop cooler. There is no logic to my argument,only feeling.
 

Mark - I have revealed my deep dark secret of the past