# Life by the gallon: Man this is some cheap gas !! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 4, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551 "2004-10-04T22:34:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/1 "2004-10-04T22:34:28Z")
So, you still complaing about the price of gas ? Think something should be done about it? Greedy oil companies !! 1 gallon of gass 1.81 1 gallon of milk 3.79 1 gallon of Pepto Bismol 58.52 1 gallon of (cheap) paint 7.99 1 gallon of cat litter 2.19 1 gallon of doe in heat urine 208.00 A gallon of urine cost lots more than a gallon of gas. Think we should strong arm the dairy industry and get that milk price down ? Far as I know we can have cows for as long as we want. Petroleum, OTOH, is a limited quantity deal. A gallon of cheap ass water at the Piggly Wiggly is .89 for christ sake !! Perspective anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/2 "2004-10-04T22:38:08Z")
> [@](#): > > gallon of cheap ass water I find the mid-priced ass water to be far superior. ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/3 "2004-10-04T22:41:02Z")
And there are ever so many more uses for the urine. And if I never encounter the person who needs and/or uses Pepto-Bismol by the gallon, it’ll be too goddamned soon. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/4 "2004-10-04T23:11:41Z")
> [@Gaudere](#): > > I find the mid-priced ass water to be far superior. Have you tried mixing it with a few shots of doe in heat urine? Mmmmmm!! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/5 "2004-10-04T23:12:12Z")
Lets ramp this up a bit. > [@](#): > > New London, CT- Shaun McNally, Democratic candidate in Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District, commented on the need to find new ways to address the rising cost of gas. McNally also spoke on his desire to find energy sources and cut down on incentives for those who purchase SUV’s: and then there is this: > [@](#): > > LUXEMBOURG (AFP) — EU finance ministers meeting kept steady pressure on OPEC … urged OPEC members late Tuesday to take coordinated action to lower oil prices. … and this: > [@](#): > > Under pressure from their constituents about this summer’s high gasoline prices, U.S. lawmakers have blamed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) collusive practices for the soaring fuel costs. So when do we start pressuring for lower milk and Pepto prices ? Should we ? Only seems fair. I am wrong or what? ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/6 "2004-10-04T23:16:36Z")
What’s your point? That you don’t think gas prices are high? Where’s the debate? And where can one buy doe in heat urine by the gallon? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/7 "2004-10-04T23:25:30Z")
> [@Atticus Finch](#): > > What’s your point? That you don’t think gas prices are high? Where’s the debate? And where can one buy doe in heat urine by the gallon? Screw that, where can I buy a gallon of gas for $1.81? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/8 "2004-10-04T23:26:47Z")
> [@Atticus Finch](#): > > What’s your point? That you don’t think gas prices are high? Where’s the debate? And where can one buy doe in heat urine by the gallon? I can get you a real deal on some urine. E mail me. The point I am getting at is that we spend lots of time and energy twisting the arms of petroleum producers while the price of gasoline remains one of the cheapest commodities on the market. Water seems to be the only thing less expensive and it is creeping up quickly. Why all the effort, crying, government intervention and even blood shed when the price is more, way more, than fair ? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/9 "2004-10-04T23:28:37Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Screw that, where can I buy a gallon of gas for $1.81? I-77 and SC #9, Exxon. Come on down to Carlisle, SC and it is 1.73 at the Little Cricket. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/10 "2004-10-04T23:29:38Z")
> [@Mr.Niceguy](#): > > I can get you a real deal on some urine. E mail me. > > The point I am getting at is that we spend lots of time and energy twisting the arms of petroleum producers while the price of gasoline remains one of the cheapest commodities on the market. Water seems to be the only thing less expensive and it is creeping up quickly. Why all the effort, crying, government intervention and even blood shed when the price is more, way more, than fair ? What did the rest of those things cost a year ago? Five? Ten? And how many gallons of gas does the average person use per year? How many gallons of milk? How many gallons of doe-in-heat urine? Once you’ve adjusted for that, we can compare the prices of different goods. Otherwise, you’re just throwing around meaningless numbers. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/11 "2004-10-04T23:34:17Z")
Here’s some perspective: Gas prices affect everything. An increase in the cost of gas means that freight costs increase, which means that distribution costs increase, and products cost more at the cashier register. Including doe urine. So even if you don’t drive, you’re going to suffer. We don’t pay once, just at the pump. We pay a million times over. If doe urine skyrockets to a million bucks a drop, it’s only going to affect the freaks who are into doe urine. Not me. And even if this wasn’t the case, so what? A pound of ground beef is more expensive than a pound of playground sand. If I’m building a sandbox and I find out that playground sand is now $3.00 a pound instead of $0.30/lb, am I supposed to be grateful it’s not as expensive as ground beef? Can I complain _only_ when it reaches that price? What does one have to do with the other? It’s not like they can be used for the same thing (unless you’re into eating sand). I understand that gasoline is a limited resource and that we’re used to it be relatively cheap. Compared to other countries, we shouldn’t complain. However, if your meager budget is based on gas being $1.99/gal and it makes a rapid increase to $2.09/gal within a couple of weeks, there will be little comfort in knowing that Germans pay twice as that, or that a gallon of ice cream costs more. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/12 "2004-10-04T23:34:30Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > What did the rest of those things cost a year ago? Five? Ten? > > And how many gallons of gas does the average person use per year? How many gallons of milk? How many gallons of doe-in-heat urine? > > Once you’ve adjusted for that, we can compare the prices of different goods. Otherwise, you’re just throwing around meaningless numbers. Why does it matter what it cost a year ago ? Why does it matter how much you use ? The big adjustment I see is that these other things are really plentiful when compared to petroleum. Seems to me that petroleum should be really expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/13 "2004-10-04T23:39:58Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I understand that gasoline is a limited resource and that we’re used to it be relatively cheap. Compared to other countries, we shouldn’t complain. . So why does everyone complain anyway? Why, more importantly, should we allow our government to leverage these prices against much, much less priviledged nations ? We don’t even leverage our dairy industry in the same manner. Are we just that indifferent to the value of someone elses resources? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/14 "2004-10-04T23:40:37Z")
> [@Mr.Niceguy](#): > > Why does it matter what it cost a year ago ? If gas prices are rising faster than incomes, then it becomes a bigger and bigger part of people’s overall budgets. And that means less money for other things, which are also becoming more expensive, as **monstro** explained. Plus there’s the matter of perception. What goes up the fastest is what gets people’s attention. Is that rational? I don’t know. But it is the way people behave. > [@](#): > > Why does it matter how much you use ? Because at the end of the year, I’m interested in how much money I spent overall, not how much per day. The cost of things per gallon doesn’t determine that alone–how many gallons I buy is also a factor. That sort of correction is a standard statistical step, btw. You don’t compare raw numbers directly–you compare rates and proportions. ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/15 "2004-10-04T23:40:39Z")
Too, **Mr.Niceguy** , you’re failing to take into consideration that gasoline is subsidized here in the US. And unless and until someone comes up with a car that runs on doe urine, Pepto-Bismol or paint, then you’re not making a valid comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/16 "2004-10-04T23:43:15Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Here’s some perspective: > > Gas prices affect everything. An increase in the cost of gas means that freight costs increase, which means that distribution costs increase, and products cost more at the cashier register. Including doe urine. > > . And if this is true, why can I still buy bread for the same price it was three years ago ? Where are the corresponding cost increases since the leap in gas prices ? Who is absorbing them ? ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/17 "2004-10-04T23:46:58Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Otherwise, you’re just throwing around meaningless numbers. For a 2005 Honda Accord, measuring roughly 773,662 in[sup]3[/sup], and asking price $21,000… .let’s see… About $7.30 a gallon. Not too shabby. 😃 LilShieste ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/18 "2004-10-04T23:48:13Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Because at the end of the year, I’m interested in how much money I spent overall, not how much per day. The cost of things per gallon doesn’t determine that alone–how many gallons I buy is also a factor. This could use an example. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the average price of milk over the course of a year is $3.79/gallon, and that over the same time period, the average cost of gas is $1.81/gallon. Now I drive enough that I have to fill up about once a week, and I have a 12-gallon tank. At 52 weeks per year, I’m going through 624 gallons of gas in that year, which comes out to $1129.44. Over that same time period, I might drink a gallon of milk every week. That’s 52 gallons, which comes out to $197.08. Now do you see why I care more about the price of gas than that of milk? To spend more on milk than gas over the course of a year, I’d have to drink 6 gallons of milk per week. That’s a whole lot of milk. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Niceguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mr.Niceguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Niceguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/19 "2004-10-04T23:53:36Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > If gas prices are rising faster than incomes, then it becomes a bigger and bigger part of people’s overall budgets. And that means less money for other things, which are also becoming more expensive, as **monstro** explained. What things? What have you experienced in your personal neccesities that are directly related to gas prices? > [@ultrafilter](#): > > Plus there’s the matter of perception. What goes up the fastest is what gets people’s attention. Is that rational? I don’t know. But it is the way people behave. Some behave that way. Milk has gone up pretty fast too don’t you think? Wonder why we don’t pressure them like we do OPEC ? > [@ultrafilter](#): > > Because at the end of the year, I’m interested in how much money I spent overall, not how much per day. The cost of things per gallon doesn’t determine that alone–how many gallons I buy is also a factor. > > That sort of correction is a standard statistical step, btw. You don’t compare raw numbers directly–you compare rates and proportions. So you think about price rather than a way to use fewer gallons ? Is that it ? I am comparing rates and proportions. The rate of petroleum depletion versus the rate of milk depletion. It is a staggering divide. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551/20 "2004-10-04T23:54:28Z")
> [@Mr.Niceguy](#): > > And if this is true, why can I still buy bread for the same price it was three years ago ? Where are the corresponding cost increases since the leap in gas prices ? Who is absorbing them ? From [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4772601:](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4772601:) \*High energy prices, which rose 1.9 percent in March, are a major culprit behind a surprising jump in consumer prices, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The Labor Department’s consumer price index, the most widely used gauge of U.S. inflation, rose 0.5 percent in March, outstripping Wall Street’s forecast of a 0.3 percent gain.\* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-by-the-gallon-man-this-is-some-cheap-gas/267551.md?page=2)