Thursday, June 05, 2008

Petrol Price Hike - Did you queue for an hour?

I heard about the massive traffic jams last night and the 1 hour wait at all the petrol stations last night.


I said ‘heard’ because as soon as I heard about the petrol price hike via all the SMSes which were coming in, I stayed in my housing area for dinner and drinks and made sure I was no where near a petrol station.


I don’t understand the mad rush to fill petrol last night. Sure the price went up by 78 sen per litre which is a significant hike. But for the average 1.5 litre car out there, how much are u going to save by pumping petrol last night? RM20+? And that is if u had an empty tank. If not, you’ll be saving 10 bucks.


Is it worth queuing for 1 hour to save RM20? My time cost per hour is surely worth more than that. And it’s a one time saving. Tomorrow or the day after when you’ll need to fill petrol, you’ll be paying the new prices anyway. I don’t get it. Okay maybe for the poorer among us, RM20 means a lot and it is worth the 1 hour wait. But for the rich among us, those who drive Merc n Beemers? Sure, the capacity of the car is larger and they can fill more and save more. Maybe they can save a one time RM50? But if you can afford a continental car, do you really want to save RM50 by waiting in queue rather than having a nice dinner with the family or staying in the comfort of your home watching TV?


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