Fueling up his Chevy Blazer, James "Steve" Myers wears the high cost of gasoline on his back: His work shirt's from "Big M's Towing," the business he closed after three years when fuel prices proved problematic.
"Gas prices got so high I gave it up," he said. "I gave it up."
Watching the gas pump's price gauge spin up to $10, Myers sighs, noting how at $4.01 a gallon -- the prevailing price in Linton on Wednesday -- only puts about 2 1/2 gallons in his tank.
"I only paid $3.86 a gallon a day ago," he said. "Within five hours it was up to $4.17. I just hope it goes back down. It's pretty hard to believe."
Fueling up a truck Thursday, Linton's David Carrell was concerned the swift jump in prices could cause harm to America's struggling economy.
"It definitely could cripple America before too long if the prices keep rising, because people won't be able to do much. Prices will start rising on produce and everything if the gas prices keep going up."
Fuel prices had already dropped by 16 cents Wednesday afternoon, but remained above $4 across Greene County on Thursday morning.
With oil prices dropping on barrels, state and federal officials expressed confusion regarding why prices at the pump aren't dropping.
President Barack Obama has suggested speculators might be responsible, and encouraged investigation.
However, the Indiana Attorney General's office has determined no price gouging has occurred in the last round of price hikes.
For some, the jumps came with a sense of greater resignation this time around. Fewer gas station owners and attendants are experiencing the wrath of angry motorists, compared to the last major jump in 2008.
"I'm getting unpopular and I don't like being unpopular. I guess negative attention is better than no attention at all, but still," joked Patti Danner, manager at the Country Porch station on Linton's east side. "But honestly? Folks complain some, but in a good-natured way. They realize we can't do anything about it at this level."
Still, cashiers notice fewer complaints as prices rise this time around.
"It's not really been bad," said Tonia Hamilton, cashier at Jim's Petro Plus in Linton.
She doesn't drive, but has noticed her children, all in their 20s, drive less, and teenagers have diminished their gas purchases considerably.
The days of cruising around town, it seems, may be gone -- at least for now.
"People will stop and say the government could do something about it."
One solution she and customer David Boucher, a custodian at Linton-Stockton schools, suggest is reducing state and federal taxes temporarily.
"If they do away with the gas tax, it might hurt the budget a little, but it would help us," Boucher said.
As the sign outside Petro Plus suggested Wednesday, "There are 58 cents in taxes on every gallon of gas."
However, that sign's now out of date, said owner Jim Friede, who changed the sign Thursday to reflect the increased tax paid on rising per-gallon prices: It's now 61 cents per gallon.
"(Gas prices) have hurt us as gas station owners, because we've got a lot more money tied up in the ground now," he said. "I tell people we only make 2 to 5 cents per gallon, while the government makes 61 cents a gallon, whether I'm earning money or not."
Friede's tried to provide context for his customers, too, noting while Americans pay around $4 per gallon, those prices often are less than half what most of the world pays.
However, even the prices on that comparison are low now. In London, gas was $8.17 per gallon. Now it's nearing $10. Meanwhile, gas in Kuwait, an oil-rich country, is below a dollar.
"Four dollars a gallon is dirt cheap compared to what most of the rest of the world pays," Friede said.
Eliminating at least the state taxes would remove at least 18 cents of every gallon's overall cost. House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) proposed a summer tax holiday to encourage travel and give Hoosiers a break on prices, but the measure seems unlikely to pass as the session winds down to its expected close Friday.
That waiver of the tax would cost about $100 million in revenues many communities rely upon for roads.
In places such as Greene County, where County Councilman Kermit Holtsclaw recently termed many county roads "a disgrace," as he sought the release of $900,000 in Major Moves money for road repair, the loss of those funds could pose problems.
And with gas prices expected to stay high even as the rain continues to fall, Danner has an idea to save a bit of money.
"My suggestion at this stage is to open a canoe rental business," she said. "All you can do about it, really, is joke. You can either laugh or you can cry about it."
Average per-gallon gas prices vary greatly across the world as of 10 a.m. on Thursday, according to walletpop.com .
