That's a good story. It sort of warms my heart. I think I have the gas situation all figured out. It boils down to "price gouging" and "windfall profits."

Did you see a gas tanker around there when you were filling up? If not, that indicates that they were selling gas that they bought when both wholesale and retail were at a lower price, but wanted to make a little extra profit by raising the price before they bought any at the new wholesale price. That is called "windfall profits."

Price gouging is when an oil company or a filling station raises the price, because of a shortage, or a panic situation, or a natural disaster. They say, "Heck, I can get $6 a gallon, so I'm going to get it."

Just a news article about problems in the Middle East or on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico or a refinery somewhere, can trigger unjustified prices increases. They will tell you that gasoline is a commodity and they don't control price increases. But they control the timimg of the price increases, so the I'm-gonna-git-my-share mentality kicks in and they win, but the consumer loses.

From the oil well, to the refinery, to the distributor, to the retailer, to the consummer, nothing travels faster than a price increase. It's faster than a speeding bullet, maybe faster than light.

Personally, I'm not going to buy gas at any price above $3. At least not until I need to go somewhere.
Howard