The gas crisis of 2006?

Well, Nancy and I just got back from what we thought would be a quick trip to Wal-Mart for some bread and a box of drumsticks (ice cream treat) and some gas.

We knew the price was going to be steep because the marquee was stating the price was $2.97 /g and that was for the cheap stuff. We put more money on our Wal-Mart stored value card so we could get the extra 3 cents off of the gas

Well, we attempt to pull into the station and have to battle a bunch of crazies to get a spot. We noticed the usual gas tanker there filling up the station. I slide my Wal-Mart pre-paid card in the slot, choose my grade (the middle grade) and attempt to start pumping. But the gas was coming out in a trickle. Then I hear a voice from above. I now have proof that god is a female and she knew that I was trying to pump 95 octane gas. Well, apparantly, this gas station was completely out of all gas other than the most expensive (naturally)! So we had to put the pump back in the cradle, get our receipt for $0.97 and then start pumping again at the higher price. So I had to pay $.08/gallon more than I cared to.

Then to top it off, the tanker truck had one entrance blocked off and we had to try and back out of the gas station to get to the other entrance/exit, but everyone else was trying to leave as well. Plus, these people aren't driving like one would expect them to drive in tight quarters. Instead, they are all gas and brake.

I haven't seen chaos at a gas station since the Rita evacuation of 2005.