Blast From The Past: Gas Wars
If you’re old enough to remember when gas stations looked like this, then you’re old enough to remember gas wars. I know that my younger readers are thinking that I'm getting senile, and that I really meant to say something about the movie Star Wars, but let me explain. There was a time when gas stations would DROP gas prices in an attempt to put their competition out of business. The other stations would drop their prices, too, hence the term gas war. I started thinking about the good old days as I drove past my favorite gas station today. Gas prices are up to $3.10 a gallon. I have a great idea for any nurse recruiters who may be reading this post. Instead of offering some pansy recruitment incentive like free parking or employee discounts in the hospital cafeteria, I think you should give all of your nurses a prepaid gas card every month. What do you think? If you use my idea, you can thank me by filling up my gas tank. Thank God my Scion gets good gas mileage.
I received this email from Mother about getting good mileage. It makes me think that a few reachers have too much time on their hands:
Subject: a study that makes senseA 2006 study by Texas A&M University found that the average American walks about 900 miles per year. Another study by the American Beer Institute found that Americans drink an average of 22 gallons of beer a year. That means, on average, Americans get approximately 41 miles per gallon - not bad!
Before you go out and start doing a little weekend research of your own, don't forget to send in your submission for Change of Shift. The deadline is May 13th. Email your post to nurseratchedsplace at yahoo dot com.
Enjoy your weekend.
posted by Mother Jones RN at 11:27 AM
8 Comments:
If only the "filling stations" would fight over who had the lowest prices these days.
I spent $40 yesterday putting 13 gallons of gas in my car. Makes me sick. I have a Honda Accord and I sure wish it were a hybrid!
If you think it's bad in your neck of the woods, up here in the frozen north it's approx 4.70 a gallon and we have some the cheapest gas in the country. Oh well the Horror of it all, at least my change of jobs (I sense the topic of a future post here) will allow me to cut my weekly mileage in half .
We have this grocery store chain here called HEB. They are great and have a gas station in the parking lots of a lot of their stores. They always have the lowest gas prices even lower than WalMart's and they will have gas wars sometimes because, god forbid, anyone actually have prices lower than WalMart! I love it and try to only buy my gas at the stores closest to WalMart. Here at the "w" the field nurses have company cars(mini coopers and honda elements) and gas cards they found out it was less expensive than paying them gas mileage!
Thats an ideal traditional image of a gas station.
The gas cards are a really good idea...! It costs me almost $50 to fill my tank...and a little part of me dies every time I do. :-P
And so begins another round of those "boycott" emails that circulate. Sheesh. We pay that much for gas because we're WILLING to pay that much for gas. Ugh...8 years of marriage to an economist DID have its uses......
That beer statistic is too funny!
Ahh ... the good old days of the gas war. I sound like my Mom when I reminisce aloud about the gas wars and the day when bread was a quarter a loaf & smokes were 49 cents a pack. (I only remember the cigarette thing because she'd have me run into the convenience store named "U-Totem" with 2 quarters to get her smokes for her as she waited in the car.) My folks also paid $1500 for a brand new Plymouth Fury and $19,000 for a 2-story 4 bedroom house.
I vividly remember one day riding in the car with my Dad when I was a kid while a gas war going on and we were running on fumes. He had a preference for the Fina station, and we were trying to make it there because it was something like 29 cents a gallon. Well ... we ran out of gas in front of the Sinclair and had just enough speed to coast off of the street and halfway to the pump. As the attendant (yes ... attendant, uniform and all) was helping us push the car to the pump, he told us how fortunate we were to have run out of gas that close to the station. My Dad was none too happy when I piped up that we didn't mean to go there, but were trying to get to the Fina because it was cheaper!
Those were the days ....
~RWS
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