Oh, I was there, both times...
The first one was an incredible jolt that completely changed life in America overnight. It was never the same again...
I remember the second one in the spring of 1979 VIVIDLY. Incredible! We'd get calls from friends, "hey, the BP on 35's open right now, there's only a line twelve deep right now, how fast can you get there?" One day, my mom had a nightmare episode of sitting in a gas line for hours and not being able to go to a restroom for fear of the line moving without her there...
Here in New Jersey it got so bad that they went to odd/even rationing, an old chestnut from '73, in which you were only allowed to buy gas on certain days, corresponding with the last digit on your license plate. For instance, if your plate ended in an even number, you could only buy on an even numbered day, and then get in line for who knew how friggin' long. My neighbor had an extra set of old plates that he attached to his Dodge Aspen wagon when he needed gas on whatever day. Lucky bastard.
This only went on for a month or so, the lines, the nightmare, but it certainly left its mark. Looking back, it couldn't have been so bad. In World War II, rationing went on for four years, and you couldn't buy new tires or new anything else, either!