James Willman seems to be a nice enough guy: polite, good-humored and hard-working, pumping gas seven days a week at the Amerigo Gas Station in the tiny Big Sur town of Gorda, about 35 miles north of Cambria.
But at least once a day, Willman said, someone pulls in and starts cursing him.
“They say all kinds of stuff”””˜You ought to be shot,’ or ”˜Where’s your mask?’ ” Willman said. “I’m like, ”˜Hey, I just work here.’ ”
The reason for consumer hostility is that the station is serving up what might be the costliest gas in the land.
This week, as crude oil flirted with $110 a barrel and gasoline prices surged nationwide, a gallon of regular at Amerigo was going for $5.20.
Henry Ford was quoted as saying his autos were made to run off of alcohol (a renewable fuel ) and he tried to do it and then came gasoline. He also remarked that he was very skeptical of any fuel taken from the ground and he was proven right on that score. My wife and I for various reasons have reduced our use of gasoline by 50% or so. I think with a little planning and a weekly grocery trip we could do it better. Keeping in mind that a round trip for us to a super market (>30 miles roundtrip ) now costs ~10 $ we try to go to our neighborhood semi-super store and we can still save money even if their prices are higher.