Service station owners aren't getting rich

Pop quiz. Who were these men? What was the common denominator among them? Alphabetically, Beaner J., Bill G., Bill H. and John H., Bruce D., Buck C., Dave D., Eddie N., Gene S., Jim A., Paul K., Paul T., Pinky C., Ralph W. and Rod T. All but Eddie are gone but not forgotten.

To be fair, you have to have lived here at least 50 years to identify most of these men who were owners of service stations in Sandpoint. For years it seemed there was a service station at every intersection in town and sometimes one in between.

From personal observation, I didn’t see any of these men getting rich from the hard hours they put in. 

My point is to alert those who would complain about the price of a gallon of petrol, you are Johnny-come-latelies. This complaint has been around since the first automobile arrived in Sandpoint. It may make you feel better to vent publicly but I doubt if it is going to change anything.

An old conspiracy theory (one that may still exist) is that these owners met weekly at various clandestine locations and agreed upon the price for the coming week. That way none had an advantage over another; it was fair to everyone. 

HELEN NEWTON

Sandpoint