My Gripe About People Buying Gas........

I always buy gas at a station where I can get the lowest price. It just kills me when I see people filling up at a station just across the street or just down the block where the gas price is higher. Sometimes even much higher.

My feeling is I'm not going to contribute one penny more to these oil company crooks.

I think if everyone bought gas at the stations where they can get it at the lowest price - those stations that have the higher prices will start seeing a decline in their sales and maybe start lowering their price as well to compete.

What I often see is if one station raises the price - the station just across the street will raise the price to match. Instead of a price war decline - it goes the other way and they eek every additional penny out of us beholding consumers.

Every chance I get while I'm filling up with gas I make it a point to say out loud - "Thank you George W. Bush". It does resonate with the people within an earshot and more often than not we begin a discourse as to how bad this pResident is.

... saying "NO CELLPHONE USE" at the gas pump!

phones.

Cell phones do not cause the fires @ the pump. Static build up from inside the vehicle is what ignites the vapors.

...not having people distracted by a phone conversation while they dispense a dozen gallons of highly flammable liquid through a handheld pump is probably a good idea.

distracted. I talk to my dogs when they are in the car and I'm getting gas.

Also when I see a guy with a nice ass I'm all on that junk...I'm major distracted when a hot guy is around no matter what I'm doin.

because that is where they have a gas credit card? It also amazes me they spend more and the credit card is the only reason I think they do it.

You obviously are free to make your own choices.

and at least a tiny bit of downward pressure on the magnitude of the price spikes.

But as I said it isn't necessarily a guarantee of lowest profit for the retailer.

And with respect to competition, here in Wisconsin there is a law that forbides gas retailers to undercut each other. It was created in the 1930's to protect mom and pop operations (often with higher costs) from the national chains that were gaining dominance and putting independents out of business.

For me, I have 4 choices for gasoline along my normal route they usually vary by a nickle or so a gallon. I choose the independent retailer. That is usually not the cheapest, but in the village it sits in it is also the only place you can buy bread and milk. Losing that station means a round trip on a jug of milk is at least 13 miles. That ain't good for fuel conservation either.

during a vicious bout of price gouging in the bay area in the 90s (spikes around the country - maybe 98 - prices eventually went down everywhere else... but stayed artificially high in SF area... til Boxer and Fienstein threatened an investigation - and it came out that the big corps were engaged in a price war in LA (prices around.99 compared to 2.20 up north) to run independent sellers out of the LA market as they were subsidizing their losses on the gouging in the bay area). A group of indie owners in the Bay Area would once a month (or maybe a little more frequently) drop their prices significantly (in protest of the increasing pressures to run them out of business) - long lines - but well worth it as a consumer as a sign of support for indies (new customers tended to keep going to the stations even when the discounts weren't there). Really interesting case study I would think for the b-school types.

so, I don't go there. Simple.

I also go where it is easiest to get in and out based on where I'm going. If I have to do left turns across 3 lanes @ a slow lite or u turns I don't see that the hastle is worth it.

or plan trips more carefully for maximum efficiency.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

You do realize price at the pump is dictated by the oil companies not the station owners?

There is a gas station just up the street from me that is quite convenient on my way almost anywhere. Sometimes their gas is a penny or two more per gallon than some of the gas stations I might find by driving further out of the way, but I don't see it as a problem to pay an extra quarter to fill up with gas there.

I don't typically use a lot of gas in an average week/month, so a penny or two difference in the price of gas between convenience and inconvenience isn't a big deal to me. The difference between 2.96 I paid today and the 1.99 I was paying a year ago, on the other hand ...

Or that station would (1) raise its prices, (2) have a long line, and/or (3) run out of gas.

driving less will.

For instance, there is a certain regional chain from which I will no longer buy gas, haven't for years. They are generally a cent or two lower than their competitors. But the trouble is that there is virtually always water in their gas. It doesn't matter which station of theirs I buy from, and it hasn't changed in a quarter century. They just have water in their gas.

Now then this problem isn't that alarming in normal vehicles, and can even be alliviated with a bottle of Heet. But when you are riding a one cylinder vehicle like I do, this problem can be disconcerting to say the least. Cruising along at 60mph when the engine cuts out. The sudden slowdown throws my body forward, then the water passes through, the engine starts working, and now I'm thrown backwards as the engine kicks in. Then more water, rinse and repeat a few times until the water is gone. No thank you. And no, I can't put an addivtive in to remove it because of the tightness of the engine. Heet causes the combustion to be a bit more explosive, which can be tolerated by cars, but blows the seals out on bikes.

Thus, I buy gas where I know that there will be no water in it. Sure, it might cost a couple of pennies more, but that's no big deal when I'm getting 100mpg.

people who live in areas like I do (I'm not rich, but retired into a nice condo we bought for less than $100,000 11 years ago) think it is a privilege to pay much higher prices for goods and services. Keeps them from feeling that they are just "average" people. He said such people would not be caught buying discount or cheaper fuel two blocks aways. I think he has a point. If you are rich, why not flaunt it?

f**ked.