Self Service

Self service nowadays is a way of life. But during the civil rights era, colored people were paid minimum wages to serve white businesses across the nation. Today we take at look at a local gas station in Mexia, Texas where Charlie Demus worked. He was a family man whom had worked at the gas station for 5 months making .25$/hr to distribute gas to local white residents of East Mexia. Early July 4th 1952 he came into work and asked for a raise but the Store Manager said No and told him to get back to work or be fired. Charlie was furious because he worked extremely long hours and this was the 1st time he ever asked for a raise. So Charlie walked to his assigned area and sat in a chair as the 1st customer rolled up for service. The conversation went like this:
Customer: Good Morning Lad. Could you please quickly pump 10$ of gas so that I can make it to an important business meeting.
Charlie : Man phuck you.. DO IT YO DAMN SELF!!!!!
Needless to say Charlie was jobless thereafter but word of this spread throughout the South. Black workers refused to service white customers for the hourly rate they were given. This forced gas stations to invoke a full service policy throughout the Southern region. His legacy led to many similar cases around the nation such as Wilma Williams, who in 1989 checked her own groceries out at the check out line because the people in front of her was taking too long which initiated self-check out lines. And Clarence Gillum who in 1983 told his local cable company that their installation fees were too high so "just send me the manual and I'll do it my damn self"........