Find: Self-Service Gas Stations for Busy BirminghamMoms

Most of us think nothing of swiping our cards to pay at the pump. In fact, if not for the card swipe at the pump, moms would  be horribly inconvenienced by having to unbuckle and drag the kids inside with us to pay for gas.

Thankfully, we don’t have to disturb sleeping or content kids while we handle a fill-up. But even with the convenience of a card swipe, there are still plenty of other good reasons to seek out a full service gasoline with an attendant sometimes.

* Maybe your tire pressure needs to be checked and you don’t want to fiddle with the pressure gauge and that little tip to the tire stem (like earring backs, these things will fall and immediately roll to the least accessible crack in the pavement before you even know what happened)

* The car windows are nasty and you don’t want to slog that squeegee in your good clothes

* You’re headed on a short road trip and really should check the oil and fluids, since that’s the first thing your dad will ask when you call him about a dashboard light (how many grown women do you know who call their father about a car problem because their spouse has no mechanical knowledge whatsoever?)

* You never think about these little car maintenance items otherwise, and neither does your spouse (see above); alternatively, maybe you’re a single mom, all the more reason to have a full service option

* Special to Divas: It’s too cold, hot, or windy for you to get out of the car

There are only a handful of places left in Birmingham that still offer these services and a busy BirminghamMom needs to know them:

Vestavia – Austin’s Vestavia Shell, 728 Montgomery Hwy at the intersection between Publix and the Vestavia City Center (Henry Austin has been there for almost 30 years; a true mechanic as opposed to a cashier)

Mountain Brook - Crestline Shell, 80 Church Street near – what else? – the clock tower

Trussville – Harbison’s Tire & Auto, 769 Hwy 11

Roebuck – Ron’s Red Lane Exxon, between Red Lane and Orchard Road

Gasoline from a full service pump costs more per gallon, and some of the stations may simply add an upcharge of $4 or so for the extras like a fluid check.  Although it sounds like a luxury service, your dad will consider it money well spent.