Thank-you, MSM

I just want to say thank-you to the mainstream media for once again creating their own news. Yes, everyone that paid attention knew there would be a small burp in gasoline production because of Ike, after all, if you can’t get crude into the refineries they can’t spit gasoline out the other end.

However, I am sure that the oil companies had plans for such a small disruption and had enough of a supply to get us through, with possibly a few of the smaller, harder to get to gas stations running out once, maybe twice. Of course the mainstream media, needing to justify their existence, started going on about how the entire country was going to "run out of gas." Naturally, some people panic, and buy more gas than they actually need. People driving buy see lines at one gas station and figure there will be lines at *all* the gas stations so they buy all the gas their car can hold, even though they may still be able to make it four or five more days with what they’ve got in the tank. The lines form. One station (probably one whose delivery is running a few hours late) runs out of gas, and the mainstream media are all over it like white on rice and suddenly the WHOLE CITY that station is in is out of gas, even though that station may have had gas again by the time the report aired and no one else even ran low. Then everyone panics, and the current situation arises.

Gasoline production is almost back to where it needs to be, the oil companies themselves are saying there is no crisis but the one the consumers are making. If everyone would just buy what they need and only what they need then the crisis would be over.

I normaly buy gas three times every pay period, so roughly every four or five days. I haven’t changed my buying patterns, except that I’ve been using a station that’s a little more expensive simply because there are no lines there. Most of the stations around here ran out of gas Saturday night or Sunday afternoon becuase there aren’t usually any deliveries on the weekends. I’m sure they will all have gas by the end of the day today, and I’m also sure that the people that filled their tanks up on Friday are going to be trying to fill them up again today because there was no gas this weekend, EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN’T NEED ANY THIS WEEKEND. Thereby keeping the shortages going.

Calm down folks. Only buy what you need, leave some for your neighbors. What good is the ten, twenty, or thirty gallons you’ve got sitting in your second, less used vehicle doing anyone?