So much for a penny saved . . .

Yes, the unexpected has happened in my lifetime. Gasoline prices in our corner of Ohio have dropped below three dollars a gallon. I’m writing this on a Thursday, so it’s possible that by the time you read these words, the price will have climbed up again, but for now, gas is under three bucks. Woohoo! Too bad I can’t stock up like I can when cereal is on sale.

For most of us, gasoline is a necessity rather than a luxury. Gone are the days of the 60s when parents would load the kids in the station wagon for a pleasure ride on Sunday afternoons. Those excursions often ended with a few verses of “Show me the way to go home, I’m tired and I want to go to bed.” In retrospect, it was probably not the best song to sing with children, as the next line explained, “I had a little drink about an hour ago and it’s gone right to my head.” Not the best sentiment to share while driving a car, even in the days before Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Just to clarify, the song, written in 1925 by James Campbell and Reginald Connelly, was purportedly reminiscent of a London train ride, describing a tipsy passenger, not driver.

No matter what song we’re singing, those of us outside of large metropolitan areas are dependent upon automobiles, and therefore, dependent upon gasoline. When I work from home, I just walk down the hall from my bedroom to my office, but most people have to drive to work. We have no trains or subways in Ashland, so if we want to get from place to place, we usually do so in a car, unless we hitch a ride with an Amish friend.

I do get excited when gas on our end of Main Street is a few cents cheaper than near the highway. Saving five cents a gallon nets me a measly sixty cent savings on a twelve gallon fill-up, but it’s the principle of the thing, as I feel I’ve gotten a bargain and somehow beaten the system.

I’ve often wondered who gets to figure out gas prices. Yes, I know they are somewhat based on the going rate for a barrel of crude oil, which has been plummeting in price since June. Why the decline? It could be as simple as supply and demand. Local conflict in some countries had resulted in lowered production for a time, but that’s improving. But at the same time, the demand for oil from Germany and China is decreasing, thus, lower prices at the pump.

But what about local prices? Gas was under $3.00 for about ten minutes a week or so ago, but by the next morning, the price had increased again. Two weeks before, it had fluctuated by thirty cents overnight. What’s up with that? Surely there was no off-shore well that ran dry. I wonder if the local stations get an e-mail from the great price fixer in the sky, saying, “Up your prices. JoAnn forgot to get gas tonight so we can soak her for an extra buck or two tomorrow.” How intriguing that within an hour of one station raising its prices, every station in town has adjusted their prices to approximately the same level.

Some say that falling gasoline prices may increase the demand for gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs, but I believe we’ll continue to practice the conservation techniques adopted when the prices kept increasing. Careful use of natural resources will benefit our grandkids, and I want to do what I can to protect the environment for the lovely Madelyn Simone and her children.

So I don’t see a new truck or SUV in my future. Instead, I’ll be glad for a financial reprieve at the gas pumps. However, it’s not likely to help out much with the family budget, for now a pound of ground beef or a gallon of milk is more expensive than a gallon of gas. So much for a penny saved . . .