Gas

I have always been bad with money, over draft fees and negative signs in my bank statements were not too uncommon for me. Yet somehow I managed to drive a car, buy clothes and eat. However that is why now my other half is the only one in the household handling the finances. I do not see my paycheck, I do not see the bills and therefore we do not see overdraft fees or negative signs. Although I continue to lack paying attention to prices which feeds into my disability with handling money.
The other day I drove into a gas station to fill up the tank of my pretty little car with the wonderful liquid that makes her run. So I went through the motions: turn off the car, take out the debit card, insert it in the machine and go through the steps, open the gas tank knob and insert the nozzle, press the 91 button and squeeze the handle. As I was standing, waiting and looking around, my eyes fell on the the price tag. WHAT?! No Way!!?? This can not be??!! I stopped the nozzle right away thinking that either there is a mistake or that I am being ripped off by this high priced gas station. Four dollars and sixteen cents, it MUST be a mistake.
I called S to ask him if this is normal, and he said yes. Hesitantly I continued pumping, yet first of all I was shocked at the price, second of all I was highly disappointed by my own ignorance, which is a whole other topic that I will save for later.
Four dollars and sixteen cents for one gallon of gas. Almost seventy dollars to fully fill up the entire tank. In my lifetime I remember seeing one dollar and some cents for one gallon of gas, and at some point I remember filling up my car with $20.00. And I am NOT that old!
When I was too young to drive I used to spend time with an older friend who not only could drive, but she had her own car (it was a shiny red two door Toyota Tercel) and I used to watch her drive and envy her. She was always broke as a joke so paying for any thing was a challenge. So I remember always going to gas stations and pumping $1.00 or $2.00 worth of gas in her car (because that was all she could find in the bottom of her purse or pocket), and that would take us to places. $2.00 worth of gas!
What we as a nation are mostly concerned about is the short time it took the dollar sign to jump up from 3 to over 4 on the gas station signs. But what amazes me is how we all still continue to drive, pump gas into our cars and drive again even with these soaring prices. I wonder how far they can go up with us still bowing our heads and pressing that 91 button and getting our fuel. As a member of the nation of consumers I for one believe that they can go pretty high up before any change stirs.
The sad part is that even though I have moved on and can afford more than $2.00 worth of gas, yet people like my friend still exist. What are they supposed to do?