WHAT'S IN A NAME?
(or more accurately, what’s in a word?)
In this tiny section of the world of blogs or websites where WORDS are assembled in sentences and sewn into the fabric of cyberspace, one cannot help but wonder about words and how they have changed. No, I do not mean how some words have evolved into meaning something different or slightly different but how they have apparently been lost completely. We will always have words that take on different meanings from one generation to another but when a word simply drops out of use or existence, this is the kind of change I want to write about today.
To be honest, it is probably nothing new for someone who has seen nearly seven decades rush by see words change or even drop off the list of vocabularies in the minds of people who talk, write or read.
What about the word "service", as it used to be known at a filling station? Perhaps the last two words in the previous sentence even present a problem to some. A service station, or gasoline station has gone through an evolution not dissimilar to the changes in other areas of marketing. The grocery stores of today can easily be included in this growing list. The drug or pharmacy stores is another store whose marketing practices have taken on a new look. Before we get too far along, the banking industry needs to be considered. When I was a kid the banks opened around 9:00 in the morning and closed around 2:30 or 3:00 in the afternoon. Banks were not open "all day" like a drug store and there were no Saturday afternoon hours because the bank closed at noon. Drug stores often "took turns" as to which store would be open to serve customers on Sunday. But I better stick with changes or the loss or words before I go down another road.
"Fill ‘er up?" "Check your oil?" "Check your tires?" These three questions were common questions when you drove into the filling stations of the 1940’s and 50’s. In fact, an attendant at the service station would often get to your car before you even shut your engine off. (The attendants were alerted by bells that rang when anyone drove into the station lot, and whenever the bell rang, the station attendant(s) would usually stop what he was doing at that moment and go out to the customer at the pumps.) "Service" was an accurate word at any gasoline station. And the attendant pumped the gasoline into your car’s tank as the term self -service was unknown in those days. Air was free too, and for a kid whose bicycle tire went flat that was good news. For a while during the past few decades the air pumps were often coin-operated and it is good to see "free air" back.
One station at which I was a regular would do checks on my car that today requires an appointment at an auto dealership. When winter was approaching it was common for the SOHIO filling station where I was a customer to remove the thermostat from the engine and test it to see if it was operating properly. (There was a little gas hot plate with a small pan in the shop and the attendant would simply turn the gas on under the pan, put the questionable thermostat in the pan and if the thermostat would not "open" when the water reached a near-boiling temperature he would simply install a new unit and put it on your bill. If the thermostat would not function in the cooling mode they would replace the faulty unit too. Today, the gasoline station not only does not offer such standard and free service, you could not even buy a thermostat at the gas station. Filling stations also sold tires, fan belts, head lights, replacement bulbs for tail lights or turn signal lights plus anti-freeze, oil and of course grease for lubrication. Some gasoline stations even offered premiums like dishes or glassware. Today such "service" is only available at automobile dealerships or a fast-lube place.
A stop at the gasoline pump was somewhat of a treat for the kids in the car too but the EPA or OSHA would probably arrest parents for letting the kids hang out the window and "smell" the gasoline fumes as they wafted from the hose filling the tank. The pumps also had "actions" to entertain the kids (maybe convince dad too) with a little fan gadget above the dials that would whirl or turn showing something was going on. The pumps could be set to automatically shut the pump off if the attendant’s duties of cleaning the windshield or checking the oil took longer than the fill-up.
Today, the consumer sets the pumps for "cash or credit", pumps the gas, cleans the windshield, checks the oil and tire pressure and the attendant just takes your money. Service? Another lost word.
Wonder what word The Wordwright might talk about next time? The grocery, drug store or the dime store?