What's up with the 9/10 in Gas Prices?

I know that they started doing it way back in the 1930's when gas was around $0.10 to $0.15 a gallon (this is the current price in Venezuela by the way) to compete with neighboring gas stations.  Back then it may have made sense because the penny still had a considerable amount of value.  If a gas station was selling a gallon of gas for $.09 9/10 it looked way cheaper then $0.10.  And you may have saved a good amount of pennies over the course of the year. However, in 2012 the penny has no value.  You find pennies on the streets, in the trash, in parking lots, and in other odd places and most of the time you don't even pick them up.  So the whole 9/10 thing just doesn't make sense anymore especially when gas prices are $4 a gallon.  Oh, sorry, I meant to say $3.999 a gallon.  Let's do some math....

Let's say it's 1935 and I have a pick up truck that has a 30 gallon tank.  Gas is $0.09 9/10 a gallon.  I fill up once a week. By getting gas at that price rather than $.10 a gallon, I would save $14.04 over the year!  In 1935, that would be a good amount of money.  Back then $14.04 would buy me 30 gallons of milk, or 175 loaves of bread, or 128 lbs of hamburger meat, or I could mail 468 letters, or go to the movies about 60 times.  I could go on forever, but you get the point.

Now it's 2012, I just so happened to have that same pickup truck with the 30 gallon tank and I still fill up once a week.  There is actually no need to do math here, I would save the same amount of money getting gas at $3.99 9/10 over getting it at $4 a gallon.  So, lets take the same $14.04 in annual savings and go buy the same items.  I could only get 3.5 gallons of milk, or 7 loaves of bread, or 4.5 lbs of hamburger meat, or I could mail 31 letters, or go to the movies MAYBE 2 times if I catch matinees.

But if you think about even more, you are not really saving ANYTHING because EVERYONE uses the 9/10 strategy.  This only works if you are going to a gas station that does 9/10 over a station that uses the round cent.  In other words, it's pointless, outdated and it's time to stop thinking the average American is stupid.  When I see gas at $3.999 you know what I think?  $4, because that's what it is.  When I see gas at $3.949 you know what I think? $4, because that's what it is.  When I see gas at $3.909 you know what I think? $4, because that's what it is!  Americans think in dollars!  We haven't thought in pennies in many, many years and we are sure fed up with having to try and think in 9/10 of one...


Cheers!

K.A. Ball