By Chris Cosci

Around the United States, one of the most talked-about topics is the price of gasoline. Most people address the issue with anger or disbelief: "Can you believe the price went up 30 cents in one day?!" Others treat it as a big game to find the best deal in town and one-up their co-workers. "I got my gas at the station on Oak Street for $3.35 a gallon." "That's nothing. I go to this station on Forest Avenue, and they're at $3.33 -- and that's full serve!" "Oh, yeah? Well I got my gas this morning at the station on Roosevelt. $3.32. Full-serve. And the bucket with the squeegee for cleaning the windshield actually had water in it."

As the conversations go on, one question enters everybody's mind: "Why do gas prices include that stupid 9/10 of a cent?"

Gasoline is the only product sold with the mysterious 9/10 of a cent in the price. Most people will try to say that the 9/10 of a cent is a psychological marketing device, similar to stores selling televisions for $999.99 so that customers will think, "hey, that television costs less than a thousand dollars!" However, there's one big difference: even if the psychological aspect holds true, people can still actually pay somebody $999.99. On the other hand, nobody can pay $3.259 because U.S. currency inconveniently lacks a coin worth 9/10 of a cent.

Basically, if a store sells a television for $999.99, that store will collect $999.99 from you (not including the tax, of course). However, if a gas station sells a gallon of gas to you for $3.259, they will have to round it up and collect $3.26 from you. In order to reach a payable amount, you have to buy ten gallons of gas. At $3.259 a gallon, that's $32.59, a whopping one cent less than if the gas was priced at $3.26 a gallon. Of course, once you buy an eleventh gallon, the 9/10 of a cent comes back, and you're right back where you started.

This rounding issue has led to some controversy. Some people argue that the price misleads customers who expect to pay $3.25 a gallon, but are essentially being charged $3.26 a gallon (again, unlike the people who expect to pay $999.99 for a television and are actually charged $999.99). In fact, in 1985, Iowa legislators agreed that this was a serious issue and passed a law banning the 9/10 of a cent practice. Then, after a mere four years of fractionless bliss, Iowa legislators passed another law repealing the 9/10 of a cent ban. And thus signaled the return of chaos and anarchy to the havoc-ridden state of Iowa.

Anyway, the point is that psychological marketing seems to be a poor excuse for charging people an impossible price for gas. People should not be asked to pay something they can't possibly pay. It seems rather unfair.

There are other possible explanations, including a finger-pointing explanation in which the gas stations say, "don't look at us -- we have to pay that 9/10 of a cent to the distributors." Then the distributors say, "hey, you'll have to talk the accounting department about that." Then you try talking to the accounting department, but they just put you on hold for hours on end and make you listen to Air Supply's greatest hits as performed by the world's most boring string ensemble.

Since there seems to be no real explanation, could we at least find a solution? The obvious solution would be to abolish the 9/10 of a cent, but we all know how that worked out for Iowa. The government could always introduce a coin worth 9/10 of a cent, featuring the profile of some insignificant president like Warren G. Harding.

Or maybe we could just peacefully go about our lives and not worry about the whole ordeal. We can sit back, do the math, and realize that after years and years of buying gas, we'll eventually save two dollars, maybe three. And with that extra money, we can almost buy another gallon of gas. All we'll need is another 9/10 of a cent.