Can you spare change for Gas?

Here we are in the midst of the Republican Induced Economic Depression, and I don't think things are getting any better.  The Democratic controlled House and Senate haven't really done all that much to move things ahead either.  The President's hands seem tied up by everyone else's inaction...

So how can I tell?   Simply put, the last three consecutive times I've had to fill my gas tank, I've had someone try to beg some money from me for "gas".  Panhandlers used to be rare to non existant at gas stations, but this is three in a row.   A Trifecta of Poverty.

I will admit that gas is expensive.   I drive as gently as I can get away with in traffic as a result.   I have a Jeep that is rated at 15 MPG city and I get 18 in the city.  I do well.   Every time I pour overpriced petrol into the thing, and look at the gas prices I cringe.  The car is now 7 model years old and doesn't yet have 40,000 miles on it so I'll easily get another 3 to 5 years.   I won't be getting a new car soon.  That means that I'll be trundling along in the right or middle lane, coasting where possible and driving slowly to try to squeeze that last few feet out of the gas in the tank.

I know times are tough but why do I have to have someone come up to me and ask for money so he can "get home"?  Three times in a row, I'm wondering if the next thing we're going to have to worry about is being stalked every time we fuel up?  I'm especially surprised since this is the third different person and each time it's been a White Jeep Cherokee in three different gas stations that this has happened.  I'm not exactly an easy person to approach either being as tall and imposing as I have been told I am with that "Don't Mess With Me" look people think I've got.

There just has to be something else going on that I'm missing!  Somehow, I just don't believe that it will go for gas...