People are insane.
When you hear the governor say "there is no reason to panic" what's the first thing you do?
PANIC.
I realized at 11:30am, after reading the main page of the Atlanta Journal Constitution online (www.ajc.com) that something was afoot in Atlanta. I read a story about how Atlanta's eight-day reservoir of gas isn't being replaced by the pipelines from the Gulf Coast area. This, when coupled with the story next to it describing how gas prices would shoot up by a dollar and a quarter a gallon by Labor Day, I realized it was time to get gas.
I called my friends and told them to get to the pump, ASAP. Luckily, we all did. Unluckily, everyone else had the same idea (but had to wait till they got off of work.)
On the way out to my job, tutoring a 5th grader, I heard our lovable governor Sonny Perdue, whom I lovingly refer to as the "bumbling bigot." He was telling Atlanta how there was no need to panic, there was plenty of gas. I knew this would provide the spark that caused Atlanta to freak out.
And freaked out we have! On the way to tutoring, a major intersection (Windy Hill and Cobb Parkway for those familiar with Marietta) was shut down by people waiting in line for gas. I did a slightly illegal u-turn after waiting for 5 minutes with no movement, and tried a different way to hit I-75. After avoiding another gas station with a line of 40 cars on the road (counted) I hit the Interstate and was on my way, thinking how glad I was I had already filled up.
When I arrived, the parents of Sam (who are Chinese immigrant small business owners) were up in arms about their trip to the gas station - the guy was trying to charge 4.99 a gallon. What?!? I paid 2.79ish earlier in the day at my station. Apparently they were forced to ratchet down the price) by Governor Perdue, who had declared a state of emergency. They're going to fine gas stations 5k for each car overcharged, 15k for senior citizens.
And, what would a panic be without guns? People pulling guns on each other for being cut off at a gas station.
The AJC found a perfect quote:
Crowe, 44, of Dallas, recalls a women waiting next said, "It ain't worth my life to get gas. We just need to pray."
As for Crowe, she said, "People are just going crazy. ... That's a little much for a Wednesday afternoon."
And I don't know how I feel about the government, both state and federal, stripping off all the environmental protections that gas is put through. Yes, good idea economically. No, bad idea environmentally. Asthma's already the #1 cause of kids missing school in Atlanta.
Needless to say, I hope lots of Metro Atlantans use MARTA. But I don't anticipate getting my hopes up.