If Gas Shortages Hit Lubbock, Expect People to Lose Their Minds

Gas shortages have happened before, and yeah—there are signs they could happen again.

But let’s start here: there is zero reason to panic-buy gas right now. Most people don’t have the proper containers to store it safely, and even fewer have a safe place to keep it. That’s how people get hurt—and how gas gets wasted.

The head of Chevron says tensions tied to Iran are beginning to impact supply, and there are concerns things could escalate. Some are even throwing around comparisons to the 1970s. I lived through that era, and let me tell you—waiting in long gas lines was not a good time.

Lubbock Already Failed One Gas Panic Test

We’ve seen this movie locally, too. Lubbock had a run on gas before, and it wasn’t just messy—it was embarrassing. People lost all common sense. And honestly, we were lucky nobody got seriously hurt.

I saw folks using open containers—which means the gas literally starts evaporating and degrading. Others were filling giant storage totes…which sounds great until you realize you’ve got no practical way to get it into your tank. Congratulations, you’ve created a very flammable problem. And make no mistake, it's not just Lubbock that behaves this way.

Look, I don’t know exactly how people will react if things get tight. It could get ugly if rationing kicks in or stations start running dry. I’d like to think Lubbock would handle it better than a scene out of Mad Max…but we’ve already seen a preview, and it wasn’t exactly our finest hour.

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Let’s hope cooler heads prevail and this all settles down. Gas is already expensive enough. It’d be a whole lot worse if there wasn’t any to buy at all.