Service vs. Greed

Customer service at a gas station went by the wayside with the invention of self-serve. I am not going to even try to implore the greediest industry in the world to suddenly service us consumers with a smile (although I do think they laugh every time I fill up my car!). With that said, I do believe that if gas prices would come down to a reasonable rate based on good ole' supply and demand, I would no longer have the feeling that my pockets were just vacuumed at the self-serve pump.

I am not a political advocate, nor have I taken up the torch for many causes, but when I filled my car today, the best price I could find was $3.47 a gallon for regular at a pump in Poway, California. Now, I am not seeking the ridiculously low prices of my youth (30 cents a gallon when I first began driving, sometimes lower), but I do believe that gasoline consumers are being hosed royally at today's prices. When Exxon/Mobil is making more profits than any company in the history of the universe, I have to ask how they are doing it. I believe supply and demand plays little part in the setting of prices for gasoline and oil. GREED however, greases the profit wheel for the oil companies.

Here I will insert a suggestion that was sent to me from an anonymous reader who thought we should each send this to 30 other people:

"A former Halliburton engineer, offered this good idea. This makes much more sense than the 'don't buy gas on a certain day' campaign that was going around last April or May! It's worth your consideration. I hear we are going to hit close to $ 4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to 'hurt' ourselves by refusing to buy gas . It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. But, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work.

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $2.00 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $3.49 for regular unleaded in my town, Seattle. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that without hurting ourselves.

We CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war. Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), Exxon/Mobil. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon/Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from Exxon/Mobil until they lower their prices to the $2.00 range and keep them down. This can really work! Keep it going!"

I also believe this would have a great effect. Thanks for reading.

DJC