Did someone misplace a decimal point?

Katrina didn't come anywhere near Virginia Beach (thank God), but we're getting walloped anyway. This morning on the way to work around 8:15 am, I passed a Wawa (usually one of the lowest prices in the area) with unleaded at $2.519. By 5:45 pm, on my way home, that same station was at $2.729.

For all that, it was still one of the lowest prices around. The price change pictured was in Ohio, but it could just as easily have been here -- a couple of blocks away from the Wawa, a Shell station was sporting a whopping $3.059 for unleaded, and a Crown station near the Beach was at $3.039.

While the latter prices look to me like a bit of opportunistic gouging, it's pretty obvious that we can expect the Wawa's, and others that are "only" in the $2.75 range now, to catch up within days. That means the tank of gas I bought just yesterday for an even $30 will soon cost me at least $36. And the damned tank only holds 12 gallons!

How soon will it be before no one can afford to drive to work? I think it's time for employers everywhere to start giving serious consideration to allowing telecommuting, flexible work schedules (e.g., four 10-hour days), or other accommodations whenever possible. Even being able to telecommute one day a week would make it a little easier to buy the gas to drive the other four days. Yeah, I know, carpooling would help even more... but that just isn't a viable option for many people, for any number of reasons.

Just glad I don't have a gas-guzzling SUV. The thought of laying out $75 or more to fill a gas tank makes me ill.