As if shelling out anywhere from $2.26 to $2.51 per gallon (the 9/10ths of a cent isn’t fooling us) isn’t insane enough as the gas situation worsens, we’re hoping residents in North Kitsap are thinking what we’re thinking: The salad days of free-for-all motoring are coming to a permanent end.

The threat of $3 a gallon on the summer horizon will surely give us all reason enough to reconsider everything from planned road trips to our lavish shopping trips to scenic Silverdale. The latter of which should be sending a little red flag flying up.

Why drive to Silverdale to save a few bucks on merchandise when the money you save will just be spent on gas? It’s a question we should all be asking ourselves.

We all know North Kitsap already has the finest shopping in the county and that the Mall can’t hold a candle to our local stores as far as customer service is concerned.

But, still, it seems as though some residents need one more reason to shop locally.

We’ll give them 25. As in $25 to fill up a 10-gallon tank. That’s a pretty persuasive argument no matter what kind of mileage you’re getting.