As 18-year-old Portia Washington (not to be confused with Port Washington (NY) explains, “we limit our outings to one or two cars…[.]“

Portia also shared her tactical approach to, er, spending less on gas: she fills her tank halfway so as to save a little coin for “a blouse or … a burger or a pizza…[.]“  Of course, the reporter didn’t ask Miss P-Dub what she might do when, say, she’s put the blouse on, consumed the burger (and/or pizza) and then realizes she’s out of gas because she only filled half the tank.  But perhaps P-Dub dips into her savings, as ever since gas hit $3 a gallon, she’s been charging her friends gas money for a Portia ride.

And then there’s the D-Train.  Derek Elsey, also 18 and a recent high school grad whose summer job has him (a) driving 60 miles a day back and forth in his ’00 Mazda and (b) spending about $230 a month on gas.

Not cool.

‘‘It’s putting a strain on my paycheck,’’ Elsey said. ‘‘I’ve cut back on a lot of social activities.  …I haven’t shopped since I’ve been working. I’ve been saving and paying for gas…[.]  …I plan to walk a lot, and I’ll have to make cutbacks on a lot of social activities that require driving…[.]  …No more sightseeing.’’

No more sightseeing (until, perhaps, the Elsey Family Grand Canyon Vacation) but perhaps a lifelong commitment to a more responsible approach to personal transport?  Only time will tell if Portia and D-Train are part of Generation C.

The Op-Ed page asked 10 writers to reflect on the consequences — unexpected, unnoticed, unrealized, good, bad or indifferent — of really expensive fuel.

Robert Reich calls fuel prices a regressive tax on the bottom half of the workforce.  Some guy writes off road trips as a great American pasttime.  A European perspective is shared.  And more.

“She’s wrong for cheating on me, but that’s what she was doing, so far as that goes. She definitively isn’t a prostitute,” Anthony Schaffner tells the station.

Of course, the way Officer Mairose of the Fort Wright Police Department describes it, it sure sounds like Ms. Eversole made a hookeresque agreement with one Kenneth Nowak.

But now wait till you hear this: G&C just found an article which suggests that Anthony was in on the action.

A local TV station reported that an Anthony Schaffner was taken into custody, along with Angela Eversole and Kenneth Nowak as part of the same vice sting operation.  Apparently, Tony had a probation violation.

But what was he doing there?  What is the real story here? Is Schaffner really Eversole’s boyfriend or could he have some other connection to her, such as a managerial one?

We need you readers in Kentucky (we also we need readers in Kentucky, period) to get us the scoop on this: email us at tips [at] gasandcountry [dot] com.

In other news, a driver staring at gas prices on a sign rear ends a police cruiser; man is busted for stealing the gas out a car’s tank…and the tank itself; thieves steal 430 gallons of diesel in Maryland…by stealing the tank itself, and; a singing gas price protester is sentenced to fine, probation.

We might just be onto something here….

Update: they just closed out the broadcast with a second story about another consequence of rising fuel costs: more scooters.  Michael Okwu reported that folks are switching to scooters from cars and that scooter sales rose 25% in the past three months.

And without further adieu, we introduce you to the G&C Police Blotter. We begin today with a report out of New York about the gas prices-linked rise of a time-honored brand of petro-crime.  No, not the gas station version of the dine-and-dash, though drive-offs are on the rise too.

Today’s New York Post has a story about ‘gas $uckers,’ the perps who run around with hoses and siphon-pumps and steal the gas right out the tank of your car.  Even when it’s parked in your driveway, as Rose Capone of Staten Island learned when she found her formerly gassed-up Beemer on empty.

And it’s by no means just a NY thing, as gas $uckers have recently been caught everywhere from New Jersey (‘brothers that steal gas together….’) to Florida, as well as Oregon, Utah, Canada, even the UK.

In other petro-crime news: a man seriously burned stealing gas five years ago tries again and gets…caught (we couldn’t bring ourselves to the pun…sorry); a golf course employee caught stealing gas from the carts; pickups are being specifically modified to steal gas; idiots drilling for gas: couple leaves behind a drill engraved with the husband’s name while attempting to steal fuel; man busted for a $50K gas heist, and; 100 people brawl at a gas station over…a pack of cigarettes (cause not every gas-related crime has to do with gas prices).

Basically, agencies that provide essential help to home bound seniors, such as Meals on Wheels and visiting health care, are finding that the cost of gas is forcing them to make significant cuts in service.  Agencies that rely on volunteers, especially those who pay for their own gas, are being particularly hard hit.

And, of course, it’s not just volunteer services that are being forced to make gas price-induced changes:

“Public agencies of all kinds are struggling with the new math of higher gas prices….. Some communities have cut school bus routes, police patrols, traveling libraries and lawn maintenance. The St. Paul Police Department is encouraging officers to use horses and bikes. A number of state agencies, including those in Utah, are going to four-day workweeks….”

Some of the numbers in this article are staggering.

For example, a recent survey found that home health and hospice workers drove 4.8 billion miles in 2006 to serve 12 million clients.  CareLink, a Meals on Wheels-type agency covering just six counties in Arkansas, delivered 480,181 meals to 18,000 people last year.

The reporter also interviewed a 26-year-old home aide who helps care for an Alzheimer’s patient in Michigan, near the Indiana border.  The woman is paid $250 a week to provide twice-daily visits and at 50 miles round trip, she spends $100 of it on gas.  And while you might be thinking it’d be cheaper to place the patient in a nursing home, the article suggests you think again:

“[H]ome care and Meals on Wheels keep people at home for a fraction of the cost of a nursing home. The state pays for care once they’re in a nursing home. So our cuts may cost more than they save[,]” according to Elaine Eubank, president of CareLink in Arkansas.

If there’s anything–anything–even remotely positive to glean from this article, it’s the idea that perhaps, as we move into a new era of record-breaking cost of living increases, we’re being forced to return to an age in which house accounts, chits, IOUs–in a word, trust–was an accepted, albeit interim, form of currency:

“Sandra Prediger, 70, who still drives a car … was barely able to pay her bills before gas prices rose.  …Her Social Security check arrives on the third of the month. For the few days before, her local gas station lets her write a postdated check to fill up.”

Of course, when you have no money left for the month, already owe the gas station money and your friend is gonna need a ride to Wal-Mart for diabetes needles any minute now, as Ms. Prediger goes on to say, you’re sorta left wondering what else you can do.

Bottom line: when it becomes too expensive to lend a hand in this country, especially given our historic tradition of volunteerism, you know we’re on the verge of a seismic shift in, yes, life as we know it.