The slow, steady rise of prices at the gas station finally hit home – $4 for a gallon of gasoline.

For the first time since 2008, American gas stations are selling a precious commodity to make the car go zoom. And precious it is.

In Brookhaven Monday, gas was running from a low of $3.69 to a high of $3.99. Going toward Monticello, the price was $3.89. In Lawrence County, it was $3.80. In Franklin, it was 3.96. And in Walthall, specifically Tylertown, it was $4.11. Yes, Tylertown was selling $4.11 gasoline to bewildered customers.

Who knows what it will look like by this weekend. 

No one at the pump Monday wanted to talk about it much. Maybe one of them was thinking about getting her old bike out of the garage and starting to use that instead and just park her SUV until the madness was over.

Perhaps another was growling (though he probably thought he just sounded like he was humming) as he watched the ticker go up and up. And up. He finally just stopped filling and angrily jammed the gas nozzle back into its holder.

No one had much to say.

Triple A said gas was “a staggering 45 cents more than a week ago, 62 cents more than a month ago and $1.30 more than a year ago.” That’s easy to believe. 

GasBuddy said that on Friday alone, the national average rose 15 cents. And now it sits so close to an all-time record. “This is a milestone that was hard to imagine happening so quickly, but with bipartisan support of severe sanctions on Russia, is not exactly surprising – it is the cost of choking off Russia from energy revenue,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues to evolve and we head into a season where gas prices typically increase, Americans should prepare to pay more for gas than they ever have before. Shopping and paying smart at the pump will be critical well into summer.”

Well, that’s not good news.

AAA.com said it best: “The increase in gas demand and a reduction in total supply contribute to rising pump prices. … Consumers can expect the current trend at the pump to continue as long as crude prices climb.”