Breaking the Ceiling.... I Mean the Floor!
Gas prices continue to drop, and yesterday I finally bought gas for under $2.00 a gallon. In fact, it was only $1.94 a gallon!
Amazing! Especially when I think that just a few months ago, they were charging $3.35 a gallon near my parent's house in Maryland.
Now I'm not one to complain about gas prices. If gas in this country goes for $3.00 a gallon, then so be it. I still think we have amazingly inexpensive prices!
For some reason, I remember back in my senior year in high school, fall of 1984, gas cost $1.19 a gallon. That was (dare I say) 22 years ago. (Ouch, that hurt.) So as of right now, in 22 years gas has approximately doubled in cost. (Based on a national average of about $2.35 a gallon.) An increase of 100%.
Let's compare that to real estate. We used to own a townhouse in Alexandria, VA. It was built in 1986. From that original sales price in 1986 to when we sold it in 2005, the price increased by 350%. Is anyone complaining about that? (Okay, perhaps someone trying to buy for the first time right now, but certainly not anyone who bought 5+ years ago!)
I'm sure there are lots of other comparisons out there... the cost of a phone call at a payphone (if you can find one!), the cost of a car, the cost of food, the cost of a hotel room.... I'm sure the cost of all of them has gone up. Yet we focus on and complain about gas to no end.
Has everyone checked the gas prices in Europe? It is significantly more expensive than in the U.S. But the populations have learned to live with it. They heavily use public transportation, or they walk. Taking the bus is not considered "below" most people. (Shoot, I've seen women in long fur coats on public transportation in Paris!) Most do not have multiple cars to a household. And the cars that they do have are small. Very small, by American standards.
But we keep building and buying bigger and bigger cars. Minivans, SUVs, trucks. Hey, I drive a minivan, so I'm one of them. But these bigger cars get lower gas mileage... and then people complain about the cost of gas!
If the cost of gas is really bothering you, try driving a more fuel-efficient car. Take public transportation if it is available. Ride your bike. Walk. Carpool. For most of us, there are steps we can take to ease the cost. We just choose not to. And if we choose not to, we should not complain.
Amazing! Especially when I think that just a few months ago, they were charging $3.35 a gallon near my parent's house in Maryland.
Now I'm not one to complain about gas prices. If gas in this country goes for $3.00 a gallon, then so be it. I still think we have amazingly inexpensive prices!
For some reason, I remember back in my senior year in high school, fall of 1984, gas cost $1.19 a gallon. That was (dare I say) 22 years ago. (Ouch, that hurt.) So as of right now, in 22 years gas has approximately doubled in cost. (Based on a national average of about $2.35 a gallon.) An increase of 100%.
Let's compare that to real estate. We used to own a townhouse in Alexandria, VA. It was built in 1986. From that original sales price in 1986 to when we sold it in 2005, the price increased by 350%. Is anyone complaining about that? (Okay, perhaps someone trying to buy for the first time right now, but certainly not anyone who bought 5+ years ago!)
I'm sure there are lots of other comparisons out there... the cost of a phone call at a payphone (if you can find one!), the cost of a car, the cost of food, the cost of a hotel room.... I'm sure the cost of all of them has gone up. Yet we focus on and complain about gas to no end.
Has everyone checked the gas prices in Europe? It is significantly more expensive than in the U.S. But the populations have learned to live with it. They heavily use public transportation, or they walk. Taking the bus is not considered "below" most people. (Shoot, I've seen women in long fur coats on public transportation in Paris!) Most do not have multiple cars to a household. And the cars that they do have are small. Very small, by American standards.
But we keep building and buying bigger and bigger cars. Minivans, SUVs, trucks. Hey, I drive a minivan, so I'm one of them. But these bigger cars get lower gas mileage... and then people complain about the cost of gas!
If the cost of gas is really bothering you, try driving a more fuel-efficient car. Take public transportation if it is available. Ride your bike. Walk. Carpool. For most of us, there are steps we can take to ease the cost. We just choose not to. And if we choose not to, we should not complain.
posted by Susan | 8:28 AM
1 Comments:
Dang, I felt good about filling up at $2.55 a gallon today, but of course, relatively speaking I'm getting screwed.
The gas prices are always the highest in the country in California... and there are plenty of paranoid theories about why that is, and our congressional delegation sometimes makes noises about looking into it, but nothing ever happens. I used to use mass transit pretty much exclusively until I had my second child, but it's just not possible for me to use mass transit with two children who attend different schools with different schedules. Sigh. (I do have a carpool, though).
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