And one thing to consider, I remember seeing pictures of a gasoline costing over a dollar in the early 70's, with well over 30 years of inflation, is gas ridiculous at its current price? I mean obviously cheaper is better, but again, people may not believe it, but in the late 90's we had sub dollar/gallon gas.

Good point about being stranded vs. strapped or having to pay more. That's a subtlety that's being grossly unobserved.