The Gas War

It was war.

Dale was an Art Major in college and turned “found objects” into something worth staring

at. His source of raw material was where highways and streets crossed railroad tracks because so many car parts were jarred loose by the rough crossing.

In retirement Dale went back to the railroad crossings to find objects to decorate the hundreds of bird houses he assembled without metal hardware and fasteners.

In his middle years he bought an old Volkswagen “beater” with a diesel engine. At the time diesel fuel was much less expensive, but the price rose and rose.

Dale read a book on turning used vegetable oil into a bio fuel that would power a diesel engine. He was soon turning out his own fuel.

He made the rounds of a few grease traps and holding tanks of fast food joints.

“The only difference,” he told me, “was that instead of smelling like a big truck, his exhaust smelled like fried chicken.”

While thinking about Dale, I remembered how people dissed an “independent” gas station in his nearby home town.

The station sold “no name” gasoline but the prices were far lower than the national brands.

There were always lines at the independent pumps despite the whisper campaign to convince other drivers that the cheap fuel was bad for the cars.

Someone noticed, then broadcast the news, that one of those “no name” tanker trucks was seen filling the underground holding tanks of one of the major brand gas stations.

Well. Folks speculated on why drivers paid premium prices for name brand fuel if it was the same as fuel at the independent station.

There was a local “gas war” roaring along the main street of town, but rather than weaponizing prices, the ammo was news and information.

Nobody tried to hide the fact that name brand gas came out of the same tanker as the cheap stuff. It was just a fact hidden in plain sight. People saw it but they just didn’t see it.

There was also a line of gossip that burning the most expensive fuel was somehow better for your car. Some people still do that contrary to the instructions in the operator’s manual that came with the car.

Once there was no recognized winner in the war, things resettled and folks found something else to worry about.

The gas war had been good for business, and the only sign that there was still a conflict was that the brand name stations starting touting how their “additives” were better than all others.

I asked Dale what took the place of the gas war.

“Football season.”

joenphillips@yahoo.com