Consumers are trying to displace the pain for a few weeks.

As the price of gas climbs, people's values decline.

No matter how old you are, there are things you can pick up to round out your stocking.

If you have two clerks, there's more of a temptation to resist, which could cause an escalation of the situation. And if it is a truly heinous act of violence, you just put more people at risk.

When gas is $3 a gallon the retailer is responsible for about 4 percent of the cost, but they are getting 100 percent of the abuse.

People price shop. There is no loyalty. They will leave you for a penny a gallon.

We're in uncharted territory. We're seeing more people going to prepay than ever before. I think we'll look back on 2005 and say 'Remember when we used to be trusted to pay for our gas?

There has been an incredible increase in the number of retailers who are throwing up their hands and saying, 'That's it, we are going to require prepay until we can figure out another way,'.

Stores are figuring out you make more selling a 12-oz. cup of coffee or a 12-oz. bottle of water than you can selling a gallon of gas.