7-Eleven to Chavez: "Pump This!"

If a picture is worth a thousand words…what is the cost of a few inflammatory words delivered from the podium of the UN General Assembly?

When you’re Citgo Petroleum, owned by the Government of Venezuela, and your epithet-spewing dictator insults the President of the United States, those words could cost plenty.

7-Eleven decided to cut its relationship with Citgo sooner than later, thanks to last week’s Venezuelan vitriol from thug-for life Hugo Chavez. 7-Eleven was already planning to drop Citgo for cheaper sources of fuel. Chavez’ verbal volley just lit the fuse a little earlier.

If Citgo is the loser, who are the winners?

Refiners picking up the slack include Fontier Oil, Sinclair Oil, and Tower Energy Group. 7-Eleven pumps gasoline at 2,100 convenience stores.
None of it will be of Venzuelan origin from now on.

Okay, so 7-Eleven was already planning to switch providers, but you can’t blame them for capitalizing on the political winds stirred by Chavez’ remarks. Reminds me of the good old days, early in the Iraq War, when French President Jacques Chirac’s untenable position in support of Saddam Hussein resulted in the dropping of “French fries” from American menus, and the bloom of frogophobia around the world.

Hey, maybe the French can buy all that extra gasoline from Venezuela, now that 7-Eleven’s ditched the South American blend.

Speaking of 7-Eleven…you notice no one ever mis-speaks the name of that business; no one ever slips and calls it “seven-one-one?” So why are there still ignoramuses insisting on referring to September 11, 2001 as “nine-one-one” instead of the correct, “nine-eleven” mention?

I just don’t get that.