My posse and I had stopped by Wal Mart in Sylva to pick up a few things...when it became apparent that all was not as it should be...
The parking lot was nearly empty. We celebrated our good luck in avoiding the long lines and running children in the store.
Our celebration was short-lived, however...
...rumors were flying around that the supply of gasoline from the Gulf of Mexico had been shut off, and gas stations were running out of gasoline, and others were raising the prices before they ran out!!!
Here is a video I slapped together of photos and video I shot while driving back to Macon County from the madhouse that was Jackson County.
It was crazy, people were honking their horns and yelling at each other, and in a state of hysteria!
The last time I remember seeing something like this was when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and the supply of fuel was disrupted for a short time.
I am sure glad that I don't have to go out on Fridays any more...I bet tomorrow will be worse...that is unless all the idiots got teir tanks filled this evening.
So...anybody notice anything similar in their area, or was this an isolated outbreak of stupid?
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Gas Panic in Jackson County North Carolina !!!
9/11/2008 07:42:00 PM
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6 comments :
Humm! How odd! Nope, haven't seen anything around Asheville.
You showed the back of my house at least three times on the video. You creep me out. Don't kill me.
With that being said, I (for once) agree with everything you said.
Long lines all over the place in Charlotte this morning/early afternoon.
cmitchz
Jason:
LOL!
We gotta find time to do lunch or something...especially since you are now one of only a handful of bloggers west of the Balsams.
cmitchz:
I read about the spreading insanity on several blogs today...it was just nuts!
I have always discounted the television or movie cliche of people running amok ahead of a disaster...now I think I have been wrong about that assumption.
Silly it may be but the shortage is real. Many stations around Candler are closed or have all pumps shut down. Props to the Hess station across from Ingles. They didn't raise their price. While neighboring stations were up to $4.09 and higher, they stayed at $3.58 until they ran out. They're closed today. The Roadrunner on Smoky Park near Food Lion has $4.99 posted. I've split my business between them and Hess in the past. I won't be back to those gougers again. Hess is being honest. We should all remember who did the right thing and reward them in the future.wt
Anonymous:
You could not be more wrong. Raising prices was EXACTLY the thing gas stations should have done.
Let me quote Tim Peck:
"Panic is making a temporary resource shortage worse and is causing pumps to dry up.
The price should be able to fluctuate freely to direct these resources to where they are most needed. “Price gouging” laws are exactly the wrong thing to do.
The gas stations that are running out of gasoline did not raise their prices high enough. Why? The natural economy is now against the law.
Sorry fire trucks, ambulances, police, construction and public transportation. We ran out of gas because the prices were too low. What caused prices to remain lower than they would in a natural economy: the government."
You can read the rest of his post at his blog.
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