Karl Kittredge had a lot of company Monday morning.

That's when Kittredge, the owner of Duke's Market and Deli on Middle Road in Sidney, reopened his store after a four-month closure and celebrated the event by offering a 59-cent discount on the first 2,500 gallons of gas sold from his pumps.

In a summer when gas prices hit historic highs in Maine, that was almost enough to make people drive from far away to get the gas (which would have eliminated the price advantage, we figure). As it was, patrons pulled in at 5:30 a.m. for the $3.50-per-gallon fuel, and within three hours, the 2,500 gallons were sold.

Out of luck if you got to Duke's after those first 2,500 gallons were sold? Not quite. Kittredge sold the next 3,000 gallons for $3.85 a gallon.

If high gas prices weren't causing so much hardship all around, this would be a sweet and almost funny only-in-Maine kind of story (flinty New Englanders line up at gas pumps at the crack of dawn for cheap gas while the softies in Connecticut are still in bed dreaming of their morning lattes).

As it is, we're just glad that there's someone with Kittredge's combination of business acumen and generosity in our ranks. We'll take whatever kindness we can get at the gas pump these days.