Does anyone else get seriously depressed every time they pass by a gas station? Not even two weeks ago, gas was still less than $3 a gallon here. Maryam says last she checked it was up to $3.29 X( And this is one of the cheapest gas areas in the country!<\/p>\n
What’s so frustrating is that there’s nothing we can do about it. Yeah, we can drive less, but really, everyone needs to get to work and this isn’t some small European country. Walking or biking to work just aren’t options for most people. Bryan thinks that if prices get high enough, demand will go way down because people will have to find alternatives. I hope so, but I know that won’t stop me from driving to work and going home every other weekend. Rising gas prices over the last few years hasn’t lowered the demand, so I don’t know if it will now.<\/p>\n
The people who are going to hurt the most are the ones who make minimum wage, or just above. If they’re spending so much money to drive back and forth to work, it would make more sense just to stop and go on welfare. Probably quite a few people will have to, which would just suck for everyone. <\/p>\n
I’ve heard a lot of people say that a good solution would be to get rid of all the big gas guzzling cars on the road. It sounds like a good idea in theory, but there’s a few problems with it. <\/p>\n
Some families need big cars. If you have more than two kids, you need something big. Kids can’t sit in the front and little ones require car seats. I can’t imagine a mom trying to get her kids plus all their stuff into a car that’s the size of mine. And dogs! There is no way in hell I could ever drive my car with either one of my dogs in it. They’d jump all over the place. Then there are people who need big cars for their work. To carry supplies, equipment…<\/p>\n
Yes, people do drive big cars who don’t need them, but how can we say yes to a few and no to others? Where do we draw the line? What if someone plans on having kids. What if they’ve had the car for five years and they can’t afford a new one?<\/p>\n
And of course, this is America. As a general rule, we like to give people the freedom to do what they want, and this includes driving big cars. We don’t stop people from smoking, getting fat, owning guns, putting up Christmas lights, buying fur coats … how can we say, OK, but you can’t drive whatever car you want.<\/p>\n
And you know what, these people with the big SUVs, they’re already being punished by having to pay more money than us for gas. I’m sure it bothers them and if they didn’t have a reason to drive one, they wouldn’t be. I say the same thing about the guy speeding down the highway going 90. I’ve actually started driving about 5-10 mph slower to conserve gas. I figure I’m going to get stopped at three traffic lights when I get off the highway anyway, so the minute or so I save doesn’t really make much of a difference. I still can’t force myself to only drive 60 though. I mean, the speed limit’s 65! <\/p>\n
If the price of gas does hit $5 a gallon this year, I’m sure we’ll start to see more people going the speed limit.<\/p>\n