Mass hysteria gripped Atlanta yesterday. It started with a broadcast by Governor Sonny "Not the chicken guy" Purdue. In a move that could best be called ill advised, he went on the air to say that the fuel supply to northern Georgia had been compromised but people were working on it and it would all be back to normal in a couple of days.
People freaked. There was a generalized run on the gas stations. Prices started skyrocketing.
Sonny went back on the air to say there was no emergency and that people should calm down. The compromised fuel supply was actually only 20% of our normal fuel delivery (most of our fuel is shipped in and then trucked), it was only a temporary problem, the worst that could happen would be a two day shortening of Atlanta's normal 10 day fuel reserves. People should stay home and play with their kids instead of spending hours in a line at a gas station.
This message came way too late and did nothing to counter the alarm generated by his earlier message. By then prices had topped $3.50 in most places and some stations were running out of gas. People freaked more. Prices went higher. More stations ran out of gas. People went into gas panic frenzies.
The panicked jackasses continued the run on gas through the rush hour and later. By the time it was over the price of a gallon had spiked over $5 in some locations. The highest I saw on my ride home was $4.19.
This morning the talking heads were out. The AAA regional manager explained that in the best of circumstances if everybody filled up on the same day we would likely run out of gas in the area. Fortunately only about 60% of the people in Atlanta are morons so we are in a shortage situation now instead of a crisis situation.
On my way into work this morning about 80% of the stations were out of gas. The ones that did have some left were selling for between $2.89 and $3.19 with one discrepant station still trying to get $4.09. None of them had many customers, of course.
Stupid people irritate me. Stupid people who affect my life anger me. Stupid people who affect my life by costing me money really piss me the hell off.
For more on the situation see Trey about The Price of Gas or my Lovely Redneck Wife about the Crazy People.
