Gas Thefts - Am I The First To Wonder When They Will Start?

Heck, I am old enough to remember the gas shortages and rationing back in the 70s when Nixon was president. I also remember that theft of gasoline right of of a car's gas tank was pretty common. So in that light, with prices at an all time high, I have to ask:

Why are there no reports of gasoline thefts similar to those of the seventies?

And:

Why hasn't some enterprising young rascal, in the automotive parts industry, paid off some hoodlums to go out and start stealing gasoline, so that his company can be the first to get in on the buying frenzy for locking gas caps?

Or:

Why hasn't some slimeball reporter paid some young thugs to go out and start stealing gasoline out of folks gas tanks, in a few different neighborhoods, in a major city, to get the big news scoop?

I mean, you can bet that it probably happened just like that in the 70s. maybe not an automotive parts company employee encouraging hoodlums to steal gasoline, but do you doubt that the news reporter types did it back then? I remember riots where newsmen were accused (and I believe convicted of or at least proven to have done so) of dropping brick on the ground with a $20 bill attached to it, during race riots. The brick just happened to fall at a minority youth's feet. Guess what happened next - the reporter's camera crew got a great shot of that brick flying through the air and smashing into a window while the reporter gave the play by play. Have we become that much better of a society that none of this will happen during the current fuel crisis? (You had better believe that regular at $4.29 per gallon is a crisis.) I hope so, that is that we have improved as a society and will not resort to such petty thievery, but I doubt it. My guess is that it is just a matter of time before we start hearing reports of gasoline thefts, of someone being beaten for trying to siphon gas out of someone else's car, and of the need for protection in the form of locking gas caps, and locking fuel filler doors (remember them, virtually all new cars had them for about a decade, but not all cars have em now).

I only hope that my thinking about this, and writing about it here doesn't spur some knuckle head dirtbag into action because I certainly do not condone or promote theft of any sort, nor do I want to inadvertantly give someone the idea and then they do it. It just baffles me though that it has not already started, or that the Mud Slinging Media has not somehow stirred the pot and created the problem to make news. I suppose it is just a mater of time.

All the best,
Glenn B