Fuel foolishness

The fuel price went up (again) at midnight last night. Although this happens fairly regularly in our part of the world, it never fails to instil a siege mentality in many of our good citizens.

I passed several filling stations on my way home where the forecourts were jammed with vehicles jockeying for position at the pumps. I saw two guys almost come to blows over who had pushed in front of whom. This is rather ludicrous, because (a) the extra cost to fill up your average tank is roughly the same as you would pay for a cheeseburger and (b) you can only realise this saving once (and that cheeseburger would just go straight to your thighs, anyway). It hardly seems worth the effort to me, but I suppose a perceived bargain is as good as an actual one. Then again, both of the fellows in question drove expensive imported cars, so they probably can’t afford to waste a cent extra if they want to keep up with their repayments.

It would make far more sense to stage a peaceful protest outside the offices of the Department of Minerals and Energy. Please note: I said peaceful. In no way do I advocate tarring and feathering the Minister. Nor do I support toilet-papering her car and I definitely do not condone introducing manure into her private coffee supply.