Under Two Dollar Gas

This bet about gas prices between the Perma Bear and I is a bit of old news by now. In 2008, I had bet that a gallon of gas would hit a price of $5 in Saint Louis, while he bet that it would hit $2 first. A few years ago prices flirted with the $5 mark, but never quite reached it. The hull was breached, when gas fell below $2 in Saint Louis the week before winter break, or about three weeks ago, but the Bear was unavailable then for any restitution then. To tell you the truth, I was in no hurry to pay up, especially if I could save money with delay. Gas prices have continued to fall in the interim, but yesterday I settled our bet for $1.77. I left the money on his desk. The Perma Bear seemed pleased with this settlement, because later in the day he swung by my room to gloat about it. When I told Anne about this last night, she asked me, “What about the 9/10¢ that always gets tacked on?” This discrepancy soon became moot in my mind, when this morning I checked prices again using my favorite gas price app. Today’s market rate was only $1.71. I had acted too quickly. I had over paid. I wanted my money back, but good luck with that. I’ll never see those 6¢ again or even 5.1¢, depending on how you do the math.