Twitter, democracy, and the importance of a clean car

As one Twitterer tweeted, "Hey this democracy stuff is great, but have you seen the price of gas?"
With the warm rains upon us, we quickly forget that it was very cold at the end of last week. I stopped for gasoline early on Friday. The temperature had just made a fingerhold on 10^°.
Prices were maybe 20¢ more than they were at my last fill-up. A glance at the other pumps showed numbers of even denominations. People weren't buying a full tank. They bought $10, $20 at a time.
While I pumped my gas, I watched a guy walking up the street. He was about my age, maybe a bit younger. He was dressed for the outdoors, in layers, in clothes that were clean but old. He carried three plastic grocery bags filled with empty cans and bottles. He picked through each of the trash cans at the station, careful not to spill any of the trash, and found a few more bottles. I turned away to finish my purchase and, when I looked back he was gone.
My guess is that each of the grocery bags held 20 cans or bottles. He would need three bags and a start on the fourth to buy gas at the old price. A twenty-cent per gallon increase means that this guy would have needed to find an extra four cans or bottles. If you don't have a car, though, then it's not really the same problem. Three bags of bottles and cans and well into the fourth. Pure profit.