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Greeson: Shortages of oil, attention span and patience all collide

A gas station displays a sign informing customers it is out of certain grades of gasoline in Atlanta, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016. Colonial Pipeline said it is beginning construction of a temporary pipeline that will bypass a leaking section of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Ala. Fuel supplies in at least five states, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, were threatened by the spill, and the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered the company responsible to take corrective action before the fuel starts flowing again. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
A gas station displays a sign informing customers it is out of certain grades of gasoline in Atlanta, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016. Colonial Pipeline said it is beginning construction of a temporary pipeline that will bypass a leaking section of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Ala. Fuel supplies in at least five states, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, were threatened by the spill, and the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered the company responsible to take corrective action before the fuel starts flowing again. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A gas station displays a sign informing customers it is out of certain grades of gasoline in Atlanta, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016. Colonial Pipeline said it is beginning construction of a temporary pipeline that will bypass a leaking section of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Ala. Fuel supplies in at least five states, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, were threatened by the spill, and the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered the company responsible to take corrective action before the fuel starts flowing again. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

By Jay Greeson 4 min read

Did you ask someone this weekend if they had gas?

No, it’s not about their dietary choices, not considering there’s a real gas shortage around here.

photo Jay Greeson

Pipeline leak, gas shortage stories

How real?

Well, Dot at the Mapco on top of Signal Mountain heading toward Sequatchie County said Saturday that the station was out of gasoline, and she did not know when the next truck was coming. (For what it’s worth, my 9-year-old got a jumbo pack of Reese’s, a fill-up with which he was quite content.)

Dot’s not wrong, of course. The ripple effects from the pipeline spill south of here are being felt around us.