Desperate Californians buy more groceries than they can eat to earn gasoline discount points

SACRAMENTO (CNN) — California residents hit hard by recent spikes in fuel prices are buying more food than they can possibly eat in an attempt to earn discount points at local gas stations.

“I bought $300 worth of food at Raley’s today and got a 50-cent per gallon discount at the pump,” said Sacramento resident Jorma Kaukonen, an elderly single woman who usually spends $50 a week on groceries.

“Can you tell me if I’m saving any money?” Kaukonen asked CNN correspondent Poppy Harlow, who followed the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics and declined to respond.

Moments after the interview, in an inadvertent hot mic moment, Harlow said, “Who does something that stupid?”

Inadvertently within earshot, Kaukonen performed a perfect crackback block that sent Harlow to the local hospital for x-rays and a neck brace.