According to email forwards and facebook, this "Gas Out" scheduled for May 15th is brewing across America.

The plan, if you haven't heard, is to have everybody strike against buying gas that one day, so that gas stations, nationwide, will be withheld from the billions of dollars in income that they would typically receive in a day. This would be a big enough cut in income to send the message that America is sick of the $3.00 gallon of gas (though, ofcourse, not sick of our Escalades and Excursions built for two - two times as much gas, two parking spaces to fit one, and two person households that own them.)

Now, chances are, since I only fill up my tank every week and a half to two weeks, I wouldn't buy gas on May 15th anyway. I might even go out of my way to fill up on the 14th, if I see that I am running low, so I can give credit to the good intentions of the protesters.

Two fallacies though: First, it's not as if less gas is going to be purchased. I bet gas stations will double their income on the 14th from all the customers who want to make a statement the next day.

Second, their main validation for this protest and their argument for its effectiveness is that in 1997 this same method led to a 30 cent drop in gas prices overnight. Who remembers the gas strike last year? And probably the year before? How come those aren't used as examples? How come the only example of this working that can be conjured took place 10 years ago?
Hmm, something to think about..

I'm not trying to be a party-pooper here. Like I said, I am 99% sure I won't buy gas on the 15th. But I'm also not going way out of my way. Maybe I just don't have a vast enough understanding of economics, it just seems like there are better ways to protest, if that's really what you are intending to do. Like, maaaybe, protests that involve actual sacrifices and that have a cost to show how sincere you are about your statement.

Just a suggestion though...
I don't like rising gas prices, but neither do I have to pay $75 a tank, twice a week, to carry my little tikes to their yoga classes..