Got Gas?

Three forty-five per. That’s a pretty high price to push all that steel up to 70mph, especially when there’s only one person in it.

Could be better, could be worse. Sierra Leone pays $18.42/gallon, which is a lot worse than Aruba at $12.03. Ok, let’s mention a country or two you actually know: Norway sells the stuff for $8.73; the U.K. at $8.38; Belgium is $8.22.

Who has it easy, and how easy? Venezuela pumps for 12 cents. Yeah, a gallon of gas for a dime and two pennies. Iran, 40; Saudi Arabia, 45; Libya, half a buck. Kuwait is up to 90 cents at this point.

I used to be a pump jockey back a whole bunch of years. Not that many for some people, but a whole lot for others. When customers asked for $2 worth, I’d lock the nozzle, clean the front and back windows, check the oil and stop the gas flow before the pump hit $2.

Those days are long gone, as are the attendants and their check of windows, oil level, and even battery acid. Them was the times when we’d go back into the repair garage and tell the other guys that we just filled a Caddy with *ten dollars* worth of gas.

We used to have red gas and white gas. All of us bought red, or leaded, gas; white gas was lead-free and had uses I never knew. Whatever were not automobile engines, I guess, and needed high octane used white gas.