"Wis. Gas Station Shuts Pumps Over Prices" YES! ALL stations should do this!

[in_cog_ni_to]

A sign explaining why the gas pumps are shut down is seen on the door of the ...



Wis. Gas Station Shuts Pumps Over Prices
By DINESH RAMDE, Associated Press Writer

57 minutes ago

MEQUON, Wis. - Motorists pulled in to Harvey Pollack's gas station Thursday, honked and gave him a thumbs-up _ because he wasn't selling any fuel.

The owner of Towne Market Mobil in this suburb north of Milwaukee shut down his pumps for 24 hours, hoping to start a movement aimed at persuading oil companies to lower their prices.

"Somebody out there is making money at these prices, but not me," said Pollack, 57. "So I just thought: What can I do to help the consumer?"

Yellow caution tape surrounded Pollack's six idle pumps for his protest, which drew dozens of drivers. One in a green minivan rolled down her window and shouted "Thank you!"

Maria McClory, 38, drove 10 miles out of her way to buy a diet soda from Pollack's station after seeing local television coverage of the protest.

"I just wanted to support them and thank them for making a statement," said McClory, who drives about 100 miles a day for work in her sport utility vehicle.<snip>

http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2007/05/24/672045.html&cvqh=itn_gasstation

[Ecumenist]

1. GOD BLESS YOU, MR POLLACK!!!

I hope that more station owners get the point and follow through in the same way!! Especially here in California.. :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[sandnsea]

2. Boycotts don't work

That's what everybody said last week. :eyes:

Good for Mr. Pollack. We have got to take charge of our country again.

[RC]

5. How is this a boycott?

This is a dealer, not an end user.

[sandnsea]

7. Oh brother

Not using a product is a boycott. What part of that is confusing to you?

[gravity]

21. This isn't a boycott

The market forced him to be out of business since he couldn't lower his prices competitive enough.

It sucks for him, but at the same time, who wants to pay more for gas?

[sandnsea]

22. What??

Are you kidding me? You read this and concluded he went out of business?? That's seriously what you think the article says?

[RC]

3. This will work better than a hand full of motorist not buying gas for a day.

Now about that gas price gouging bill in congress...

[sandnsea]

9. It's the same damned thing

How can you not see that? Buy no gas from gas stations OR gas station owner buys no gas from supplier - same fucking thing.

:shrug:

[RC]

12. No it is not!

If it is a motorists doing this, it only drops the total sales for the station a few percentage points.
If it is the station owner, the percentage drops to zero!

[uppityperson]

13. Good luck with this one.

Been there, done that, not enough time to waste on this one. Good luck though.

[sandnsea]

16. You can't support one and oppose the other

There is absolutely no logic in that, none whatsoever.

[sandnsea]

15. If ALL motorists would do it

It's THE SAME FUCKING THING. ZERO. Jeebus kheerist.

[RC]

23. But all, most, a lot, a goodly number will not do it.

That is the point. Only a few motorist will ever do it. Then the next day will go buy gas anyway. doesn't do any good. Let the dealer do it. It makes a bigger point with both the motorist and the supplier.

[sandnsea]

25. Same with this gas station owner

Do you think it's going to do any good for just HIM to boycott his supplier for one day?? No. No more than a handful of motorists.

But like he said, maybe if HE stands up, he'll encourage others to join him. And that IS a good idea, and if motorists joined him on specified boycott days, it would be even better.

There is no logical reason to support the gas station owner and not a boycott in general. It just doesn't make any sense.

[Gabi Hayes]

4. Mobil won't let him keep that up very long. Good for him, but I'll bet

he's been considering retirement for awhile

no way Mobil is going to let him stop the flow of filthy lucre for more than a day or two.

[HereSince1628]

6. The surprising thing is Mequon is pretty upscale.

Bet you won't see such a thing in South Milwaukee or Cudahy.

[postulater]

30. Yup, the strongest Sensenbrenner territory in the district

[Clark2008]

8. Cute story, but I had to laugh at this irony:

Maria McClory, 38, drove 10 miles out of her way to buy a diet soda from Pollack's station after seeing local television coverage of the protest.

So, she WASTED gas just to go over there? I admire her spunk, but doesn't that defeat the purpose? :rofl:

[in_cog_ni_to]

27. Maybe she drives a scooter? A bicycle?

I guess, in this instance, we can say, "It's the thought that counts." :)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

10. If we were to run out of gas, how would I get to work?

I don't have the luxury of living in a city with a good public transit system. It's great if you do, but I don't. If we don't work, we're homeless. And I think that's true of most of this country. This is a really bad idea. And it will never work.
Duckie

[HeeBGBz]

11. I found one station that was under $3 today

The rest were $.05 to $.10 higher. It's sad when you get excited about $2.99 gas. That's probably the grand scheme of things.

I appreciate Mr. Pollack's statement.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

20. Damn under 3 dollars

Meijer Gas Station by my house was 3.46 and The line was 6-7 cars in length

[Initech]

14. Now THIS is how you boycott!

[beevul]

17. I would not characterize this so much as a boycott...

But more of a protest.


If every major city had a dozen filling stations whos owners had the guts to do this, and they got organized and synchronized, this could become a vehicle (no pun intended) for a powerful message. One not so easily ignored. M$M could not ignore that many. Yeah, optimistic, I know.

[elocs]

18. So 1 gas station refuses to sell gas and this is proof that a boycott is working?

Gas stations don't make much profit from selling gas. They make it from selling the goodies that people purchase after they buy gas. Let's get real about a gas boycott. There will always be somebody who will purchase the gas somewhere and the gas will be sold to them. That's the way the real world works. A boycott of something as necessary as gas across this vast country with over 300 million people will not work.

[sandnsea]

19. Who said that?

:shrug: I didn't see anybody anywhere say a boycott was working. Please provide quote.

[elocs]

24. You did in post #2.

When you say "Boycotts don't work" followed by "That's what everybody said last week", then the implication is that boycotts do work. You are implying that boycotts do work based on this one, single incident. Boycotts of gas will not work because somebody or some country will always buy the gas. Even now, with record gas prices, demand is up over a year ago. Big gas guzzling vehicles are still selling well and they require lots of gas.

[sandnsea]

26. I implied the idea was a good one

And those who said it wasn't, last week, were wrong, as the article shows. Like the guys says, if one person stands up, maybe enough will follow to make a difference. That's what the article said, and that's what I responded to.

The article didn't say a boycott was working, so I couldn't possible respond to that.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

28. I Give Him A Ton Of Credit For This. That Ain't Somethin Ya See Every Day.

Now THAT can be an effective protest, if it caught on to other stations. I'm not sure if it every possibly could or would, but it would most definitely make a statement.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

29. People with SUV's and minivans lay the blame on gas companies???

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

If everyone would get rid of their SUV's and Hummers we wouldn't have these problems plus the global warming problem and air pollution would be a lot lower to boot.

People with mini-vans I'm a little more sympathetic with - since they aren't really trying to make a "status" statemnt and probably really need it for their kids or extra space.

SUV's are not safe for kids due to their roll over rates and most are poorly constructed - so if a parent is using it for safety reasons they are pretty stupid.