Re: Hearsay

[Steve Stegmann <stegmann@domain.elided>]

Tom,

I remember the energy shortage of '72.  What really happened was that the
media made a big deal out of it and everyone panicked.  There was plenty
of gas but it couldn't be distributed to the biggest metro areas where the
panic was.

We traveled that summer and as soon as I got away from St. Louis, I
stopped in east broken elbow and asked how much gas I could get.  The guy
looks at me like I have horns and says "how much can you carry, I have all
the gas you want". It was that way everywhere except in the biggest metro
areas.  I used to drive up outside of St. louis and would buy my gas about
5 miles outside of STL.  I did have to wait behind 1 car one time. 

What happened was that:

Whereas:  The average gas tank in the average vehicle is normally half
full, and

Whereas:  The total capacity in all the gas tanks of all the cars is
bigger than the capacity of the refining and distribution system, and

Whereas:  the media panicked everyone all at once into running out to top
up their tanks because there wouldn't be any gas anymore, and

Whereas: in a space of 1 or 2 days every bit of gas which was in the
filling station tanks was completely sold out, and

Whereas: stations normally only get one delivery per week so they weren't
going to get anymore for a few days, and

Whereas: all the stations called up the disributors and said send
more!!!!!, and

Whereas: all the distributors were sold out in a couple days

Therefore everyone freaked out and had to buy gas every time they used 2
gallons and therefore the stations, and distributors couldn't get caught
up, and therefore the news media jumped on this and whipped the panick to
a fever pitch, it just spiraled out of control.

The actual amount of disruption to our oil supplies was less than 20%, but
nobody knew the size of the gas tanks relative to the total amount of gas
in process.  And of course the media was having a heyday with the whole
mess.

It must have been a mess in LA, Chicago, New York, the really big places
like that.  I knew people who waited in long lines in St. Louis.  I told
them where to get gas, but I don't think anyone paid any attention.

Oh well..

Steve

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Steven A. Stegmann
     _/_/_/    _/      _/_/_/ "No free man shall ever be debarred the use
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 _/_/_/  _/     _/ _/_/_/         Thomas Jefferson, June 1776
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