When we were in the army and lived in Germany from 1975-1978, we felt for the Europeans, who paid an exhorbitant amount of money for gas for their cars. Germans paid about $4.00 a gallon. Yes, you read that right - $4.00 a gallon in 1975, when gas for Americans was about $.75 a gallon. Yes, you read that right, too - under $1.00 a gallon. When I started driving in 1972, it was about $.36 a gallon. Then we had the oil crisis in 1973, where members of OPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. That was when we had gas rationing and you filled your car on odd or even days and endured really long lines at the gas stations. So, personally, the fact that we are now having to pay $3.35 a gallon, is not an issue for me. My husband and son are on a project with London, where gas is $7.00 a gallon. So, in my humble opinion, it is not unreasonable that we Americans should be paying higher prices. What does drive me crazy, though, is the up and down nature of those prices, and the equally roller coaster reasons given by so-called experts. One week prices are expected to go up because Greece is going broke. The next week prices are going down because other countries are helping Greece not be broke. Next it will be that those were all rumors and Greece is just fine, but the weather hasn't been that great there, so gas prices will go up a bit. Or wait a minute, the souvlaki stands in NY sent their profits to Greece, so there no longer is any financial issue, so gas prices should level off until the next crisis comes along!
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