A Minnesota gas station owner’s playful expression of empathy to customers over the unprecedented high gas prices has gone viral, earning him social media attention and national news coverage.
“WE HATE OUR GAS PRICES TOO,” the sign at Murphy’s Service Center in St. Anthony, a town about 6 km northeast of Minneapolis, reads.
“We make the same profit on a gallon of gas,” Chuck Graff, the station’s owner, explained to CBS affiliate WCCO-4. “It’s just kind of our way of letting the customer know that we feel their pain,” Graff said.
Minnesotans are paying an average of $4.77 a gallon for regular Sunday, according to American Automobile Association (AAA) figures. A year ago, a gallon of gasoline cost less than $2.90 in the state.
AAA estimates a national gas price average of $5.01 per gallon, with Californians paying a whopping $6.43, while Colorado, Florida and Montana ‘enjoy’ the comparatively low price of $4.87, $4.88 and $4.89, respectively.
Graff’s sign garnered sympathy online, and added to the national debate around what's causing the spike in gas prices in the United States, the world’s number one producer (and consumer) of oil, and who exactly is to blame.
“Putin’s price hike. Just kidding, FJB,” one user wrote in the YouTube comments section of WCCO-4’s report. “And [Minnesota Governor Tim] Walz wanted to raise the gas tax an additional $1?! Vote him and the rest of the [Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party] out in November!” another suggested.
“Massive federal spending drove this rise in inflation,” a Twitter user suggested under one of the many media tweets sharing the story. “Here’s an easy one, how expensive would gas be if we were still a net exporter of oil? Would it still be Putin’s fault?” another person asked. “Why are the oil companies making double digit billions in profits if they say they cannot control prices?” a third pondered. “Thank America’s infrastructure that made living life gas-dependent,” another complained. “It cost me $50 bucks to fill up my lawnmower! #FiveBuckBiden,” another quipped. “As Biden blames all American problems on Putin, I do not think the American people will vote for Putin anymore!” one user jested.
President Biden has blamed a range of factors, but not his own administration’s fiscal, economic, and foreign policies, for the surging gas prices and inflation currently facing ordinary Americans, interchangeably suggesting that the Russian president, American oil companies, Covid or even US aid to Ukraine were responsible for the fiasco.
On Saturday, Democratic officials told the New York Times that President Biden’s inability to pass his agenda, his perceived mental decline, and the surging inflation, spiking gas prices, deadly mass shootings and Supreme Court plans to roll back federal abortion rights plaguing the US are causing a brewing revolt against him. One senior Democrat told the outlet that Biden should publicly announce his intention not to seek reelection immediately after November’s midterms.