It’s three days after President Joe Biden announced a Russian oil ban, and I’m at a full-service station in my large SUV getting $20 worth of gas.

I tell him how much I want, he squeezes on the handle and three seconds later he’s asking me for my money.

I start to cry.

Because it wasn’t that long ago when a $20 bill would get you a four-second squeeze.

But these are heady times, and the world is a different place than it was just a month ago. We are still battling inflation. The pandemic continues, and there is war in Eastern Europe.

Ugly war.

I check the gas cap to make sure it’s tight – don’t want any precious fumes escaping – and I think about how we got to this point, and the promises made along the way.

Even before the Russian bullies attacked Ukraine and bombed hospitals and schools and sent refugees scrambling to every corner of the continent, Biden assured us that American troops would not go to battle in this conflict. We would sit this one out.

But Russia must pay for its aggression, the president said, and when harsh sanctions were not enough, that’s when Biden announced a ban on Russian oil.

And that’s when all the whining started.

Among the chief whiners were Republicans, who had urged Biden to institute the ban. It’s the right thing to do, they said. We’ll show those Russians, they said.

Then they turned around and blamed the president for the spike in gas prices.

“The idea that we’re seeing higher gas prices just because of the invasion is just not true,” said U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y. “We’re happy to see this ban on Russian oil, but that’s only half of what’s needed. We need to be energy independent today. We need diversification.”

We need you to be quiet and support your president in a time of global crisis.

Because we’re not going to drill our way out of this problem. We’re not going to pipeline our way to the promised land.

One day last week it was 70 degrees. Two days later, it was snowing.

How much more of the Earth do we want to sacrifice to fill the tanks on our Navigators and Escalades?

The critics blaming Biden for their pain at the pump are from the same crowd that hold him responsible for inflation.

The consumer price index increased by 7.9% over the last 12 months, the fastest rate of inflation since January 1982.

“Prices continue to skyrocket under Biden and Democrats’ reckless policies,” said Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. “Biden’s attempt to deflect blame is an insult to every American and small-business owner struggling to afford the cost of everyday goods.”

Never mind that the nation’s economy is struggling to recover from a crippling pandemic that happened on a Republican president’s watch.

But as much as Biden’s critics like to blame him for inflation, they tend to leave inflation out of the equation when it comes to gas prices.

Last week, the price of a gallon of regular gasoline broke a 14-year record in the U.S. According to the American Automobile Association, the national average gas price soared past its previous peak of $4.144 per gallon, set in July 2008, and continued rising to hit $4.326 per gallon on Saturday.

Adjusted for inflation, the real cost of a gallon of gas from July 2008 shoots up to $5.37 in today’s dollars — well above the current cost.

“As I have said from the start, there will be costs at home as we impose crippling sanctions in response to Putin’s unprovoked war,” Biden said. “But Americans can know this: The costs we are imposing on Putin and his cronies are far more devastating than the costs we are facing.”

In other words, quit whining. It’s not really helping now.

Leonard Greene writes for the New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com.