$50 Worth, Please

Growing up in the 50's and 60's I have fond memories of going for a ride. On the weekends or sometimes on a week night we would all pile into the car and just drive. We never went anywhere in particular, we just drove around. Sometimes we would go see that new big building that was being constructed or we would park out at Sea-Tac Airport and just watch the planes. If we were luckily and had been good  dad would stop at McDonald's and we would have milkshakes. They were still just a 25 cents , so a buck covered it and dad always had 5 one dollar bills in his wallet. A ride and a milkshake was some pretty good entertainment when Seattle only had 4 TV stations and we only had a black and white set.

The most fun, though, would be if dad stopped for gas. I'll admit it, I loved the smell of the gasoline as it was being pumped into the car. The bigger stations always had a give away too. These were usually glasses or towels. My mom still has drinking glasses we got at Shell in the early 60's. All this happened at a service station, that is a place were a honest goodness real person came out and took your money, pumped the gas and washed the windows. He would even check the oil and water levels in the engine and check the belts if you popped open the hood. The fun for us was hearing my dad say "Three bucks worth please". Mom always made fun of him as the last of the big spenders and would say the attendant would most likely die of surprise if dad ever said "Fill her up".

Three bucks worth though almost always did fill her up. Gas was 25 to 33 cents a gallon during most of my youth and I don't think many cars had bigger than 15 to 18 gallon tanks. So 3 bucks just about always did it. It is one of the most endearing and enduring memories I have of my father. I can still hear his voice saying "3 bucks worth please".

Well, dad is dead now and gas is $3.59 a gallon today in Boise. My car also has a 22 gallon tank, so we don't take long rides just for entertainment. I'm not sure what a milkshake costs at McDonald's but I'm sure it is more than 25 cents. Also "$50 bucks worth please" just doesn't have the same feel. Oh, and there is no attendant to tell it to anyway.