By JONATHAN CRIBBS
Aug. 24, 2005

ROANOKE, Va. — Donnie Shelton had a sweet ride a month ago. It was a red 1994 Ford Mustang — a powerhouse of a vehicle. More than 1 1/2 tons of Detroit-forged steel and all-American glory, all housing a gas-guzzling V-8 engine. He had spent $1,500 customizing it. The Mustang was his baby.

But more importantly, chicks, including his girlfriend, dug it.

Then crude oil prices shattered his high. As the price of gasoline rose, every roaring mile became more expensive. His wallet began to thin. Too many $35 tanks of gas finally did him in.

"It just costs too much," the 17-year-old from Bedford said.

So, Shelton sold his sports car for $5,500 (much less than it was worth, he said) and opted for a grimy, dented 1986 Ford Ranger pickup. It only costs $20 to fill up the gas tank, which lasts twice as long.

Unfortunately, however, chicks, including his girlfriend, don't really dig it.

"It kind of sucks," he said. "I don't like going anywhere."

For the last several months, Shelton has suffered the brunt of a perfect storm of political and economic developments that have forced gasoline prices to record levels in Virginia and nationwide. He is a teenager without a substantial income - one of many young people in the Roanoke area whose lives, social or otherwise, get more complicated when a gallon of gas becomes increasingly expensive.

On Wednesday, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in Virginia was $2.56, up more than 30 cents from just two weeks before, said Windy VanCuren, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. Nationally, the average is $2.61, up about 31 cents in the last month, she said. Both are records.

Everything from a Philadelphia refinery fire to heavy August travel and Iranian politics have helped agitate oil production worries and push gas prices higher. Now, the economic repercussions are slamming into teenagers like Will Cain, a 17-year-old from Salem who works two part-time jobs: one at United Parcel Service and another at Speed Zone at Grand Slam, a go-cart track in Franklin County.

Tossing a cigarette stub onto the pavement outside Valley View Mall last week, Cain inhaled and matter-of-factly detailed his gasoline plight:

He makes about $150 a week. The gas tank in his 1997 Honda Accord devours nearly half that.

He's considering quitting the job at Speed Zone because of it. Driving all the way from Salem is just too expensive.

At 17, he's already embracing the grown-up practice of carpooling to his job at UPS.

It's been 3,000 miles since his last car checkup. It's time for an oil change, but he can't afford it.

And mall shopping, a guilty pleasure of his, is all but out of the question now.

"I have to work one whole day to pay for gas," Cain said. "Now, I just don't buy anything. All my money's going to gas."

These are the kinds of complications Michael Wood said he's seeing among most teenagers. Wood is vice president of Teenage Research Unlimited, based outside Chicago.

Driving, a means of freedom, is one thing teenagers often refuse to sacrifice, despite rising gas prices, he said. In most cases young people find resourceful ways to keep their wheels turning, whether it's bugging parents to pay for gas cards or pooling together and chipping in gas money for group road trips.

"It's definitely caused teenagers to do the math," he said. "Whereas before, when they weren't even considering the prices, now they are."

Teenagers aren't saddled with rent, heating bills and groceries. They work, in most cases, for discretionary spending and use it willfully, Wood said. Americans ages 12 to 19 spent about $169 billion last year, and he said he expects teens will find thrifty ways around squandering most of that income on gas.

"It's not just a matter of being practical. No, no, no - this is something that is very meaningful for teenagers, so they want to hold on to that," Wood said. "I think as adults we forget how monumental it was getting access to a car."

So, teens sacrifice little things such as cologne. Jeremy Weeks, an 18-year-old from Goodview, hasn't been buying it as much since gas prices skyrocketed. He currently spends $27 to fill his 2001 Ford Focus. He remembers fresher times when his preferred Hollister Co. fragrance was more accessible and filling his tank cost $6 less.

"I've been stinkin' recently," he said.

Kerry Sautner, 17, of Roanoke, lamented Friday at the Sheetz gas station on Orange Avenue. She has a "crap job" that pays her little, so when gas prices shoot for the limits she said it hits her like a financial sledgehammer.

"As soon as you get situated with what you're paying, the prices go up," she said as she and her friend, Kendra Friedricks, 17, of Roanoke climbed into her Honda Accord. "School is coming up and that's just another place that we're gonna have to drive."

(This article was published in the Roanoke Times in Roanoke, Va.)