So, what happens during a gas crisis, anyway? Your older relatives have a reason to bring up what could come next

Picture this: you’re running out of the house to go see Blazing Saddles at the drive-in with friends. You hop in your car, turn on the ignition, flick on the radio and Elton John’s rhythmic vocals flow through the air as “Bennie and the Jets” starts playing. It’s the perfect kind of night, save for one issue: your car is a little low on gas, and it means you’re going to wake up at 4 am just to wait on a gas line for hours to fuel up, if you’re lucky.

For most of us, a gas crisis is an abstraction.