How Did $4 a Gallon Gas Start Looking Good?

Friend and reader Bob Hughes made a good point in a comment yesterday:

This morning I filled up the tank with gas at the Fullerton Arco station at $3.99 a gallon.

I though "Woo Hoo" - such a bargain!

Then I realized I was getting excited about gas being "only" $4 a gallon.

Kinda like an abuse victim being happy that the beatings aren't as frequent as they used to be...

Exactly. I've been around long enough to remember the Arab Oil Embargo in 1973, and in fact I was a part-time gas pump jockey at the time. I remember the odd/even day rationing and being able to pump only 10 gallons per car. Prices shot up and we were all outraged, but when things settled down, we were just happy to have gas at any price.

Then the energy crisis of the late 70's hit and gas shot up to nearly $1. When it settled back to around $.75, we were all relieved. It didn't even occur to us that just prior to the problem we'd been paying only $.50.

These cycles have come and gone many times. Gas shoots up 50%, everyone gets outraged, politicians do dumb things, and gas settles back to only 30% above the old rate and we all feel grateful. It's happening again now.

Not that long ago we were paying about $2.00. When it hit $3.00 we all panicked, but now $3.00 would be welcome. We forget that as late as December 2001 gas was only $.94 at a station in La Habra.

It's kind of like the story of the frog in a pot of water. If you turn it up slowly the frog doesn't jump out, and in this case all you have to do is back off the heat just slightly and the frog feels pretty good. He's still being boiled alive, but it just feels a little better.