Old people's obsession with gas prices.
Posted: March 2 11, 8:32 am
Okay, so I'm generalizing, but I'm basing this on personal experience and two recent events.
The night before Mubarak left office, my Mom calls up because my Dad heard that gas was going to $100 a barrel and that the Suez canal was shutting down (it didn't), and how much gas did I have and I should get some "tonight." So I say I have half a tank, and even supposing the price jumps up 20 cents a gallon, it will save me about $1.30, and that I'm not going to worry about it. This irks my mother because my Dad "follows this stuff a lot." I don't mention, which I also know to be true, that they watch cable news (often FoxNews) and always leave it on full blast.
This morning at work an older fellow who likes to talk (I'll call him Dave), pulls up next to me in the parking lot and comes over before I've gotten out of my car and is about to knock on my window. I open the door before his knuckles are formed and he says "do you have a pretty good amount of gas in the car?) It's a company car I drive to appointments. I say yeah, and he tells me about his friend who runs a Speedway and says gas is going up to $3.55 (about 20 cents higher than current) at 10am. He goes on in, and by the time I've got my stuff and walk through the door he's told everyone, and one guy actually leaves to gas up. Then I sit down and see an email from my boss re-telling this story as told to him by Dave (it's a small business), and that we should go get gas.
Am I wrong/alone in finding this a big waste of time and effort? It strikes me (at least with my Dad) as an effort to do something about disturbing events you have no control over. In my boss's case perhaps it's just more of that micromanaging he likes to do.
Along with this general rant, I'll throw in people who drive down the road or to an inconvenient gas station to save a penny per gallon on gas.
The night before Mubarak left office, my Mom calls up because my Dad heard that gas was going to $100 a barrel and that the Suez canal was shutting down (it didn't), and how much gas did I have and I should get some "tonight." So I say I have half a tank, and even supposing the price jumps up 20 cents a gallon, it will save me about $1.30, and that I'm not going to worry about it. This irks my mother because my Dad "follows this stuff a lot." I don't mention, which I also know to be true, that they watch cable news (often FoxNews) and always leave it on full blast.
This morning at work an older fellow who likes to talk (I'll call him Dave), pulls up next to me in the parking lot and comes over before I've gotten out of my car and is about to knock on my window. I open the door before his knuckles are formed and he says "do you have a pretty good amount of gas in the car?) It's a company car I drive to appointments. I say yeah, and he tells me about his friend who runs a Speedway and says gas is going up to $3.55 (about 20 cents higher than current) at 10am. He goes on in, and by the time I've got my stuff and walk through the door he's told everyone, and one guy actually leaves to gas up. Then I sit down and see an email from my boss re-telling this story as told to him by Dave (it's a small business), and that we should go get gas.
Am I wrong/alone in finding this a big waste of time and effort? It strikes me (at least with my Dad) as an effort to do something about disturbing events you have no control over. In my boss's case perhaps it's just more of that micromanaging he likes to do.
Along with this general rant, I'll throw in people who drive down the road or to an inconvenient gas station to save a penny per gallon on gas.