Episode 500
My Truck's Drinking Out of Spite: Gas Prices Are a Mood
Gas prices are the highest they've ever been for this time of year — AAA says the national average is about $4.27/gal, up 13 cents in a week. Summer’s over, kids are back in school, the lake bag smells weird in the garage, and somehow the pump didn’t get the memo. You don’t need a chart or an economist — you just stand at the pump, watch the numbers spin, and wonder if your truck’s drinking out of spite. So yeah, I rant a little, then salute the real underappreciated hero: the gas station price-sign changer, out there with a 10-foot pole getting yelled at while they deliver the bad news. Don’t shoot the messenger — they’re just doing their job while the rest of us decide if that extra trip to Wally World is worth our retirement.
Takeaways:
- I complain that gas is at the highest price for this time of year, a weirdly specific and annoying record.
- AAA says the national average for regular is about $4.27 a gallon, up 13 cents in one week — ouch.
- We don't need charts or economists; you feel this inflation at the pump immediately when the numbers spin.
- Suddenly every errand becomes a budget meeting—driving to Wally World twice in one day feels like poor retirement planning.
- I proudly salute the gas station price sign changer — the poor soul who climbs out in storms with a ten‑foot pole.
- People blame the sign changer, but seriously please don't shoot the messenger—they're updating prices, not running the oil companies' yachts.
Transcript
Good morning.
Speaker A:It's haystack and gas prices unfortunately now at the highest price they've ever been for this time of year.
Speaker A:Not ever, but ever for this time of year.
Speaker A:That's kind of a very specific record, but it's also a very annoying record.
Speaker A:Triple A says the national average for regular gas around 427 a gallon, which is up 13 cents in one week.
Speaker A:Labor Day weekend was already record high for Labor Day weekend, which really stinks because gas prices are supposed to calm down after the summer travel season.
Speaker A:Summer's over.
Speaker A:Road trips are over, the kids are back in school, the lake bag smells weird in the garage.
Speaker A:This is when gas is supposed to take a breath and instead the pump is still standing there like you thought I was seasonal.
Speaker A:This is the kind of inflation that people feel immediately.
Speaker A:You don't need a chart.
Speaker A:You don't need an economist or a cable news panel.
Speaker A:You just stand at the pump and watch the numbers spin and wonder if your truck is drinking out of spite.
Speaker A:Gas prices don't just hit your wallet though.
Speaker A:They make every errand feel like a financial decision.
Speaker A:Suddenly going to Wally World twice in one day feels like poor retirement planning.
Speaker A:In the end, though, it's not only hard on us consumers, it's also particularly rough on one specific line of employment.
Speaker A:And that real American hero deserves a salute.
Speaker A:Real American hero.
Speaker A:Today we salute you.
Speaker A:Gas station price sign changer.
Speaker B:Gas station price sign changer.
Speaker A:New gas station signs have remote LED lights, but you work at an old school place where you gotta go out in inclement weather with a 10 foot pole to deliver the bad news.
Speaker A:People act like the high prices are your fault.
Speaker B:Please don't shoot the messenger.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:So while you're breaking your back and getting spat on, just remember the gas company executives on their yachts who think you should work harder.
Speaker A:Oh, underappreciated courier of inflation, your gas station price sign changer.
Speaker B:Just wait to change it till I fill.
Speaker A:Up.
