Gas Prices - Everyone Is Talking About It

Gas prices are way too high. Diesel prices are out of control. Good jobs are disappearing left and right. And did I really just buy a lottery ticket today?

I'm living in Northeastern United States right now, and, like most other Americans, I literally cringe when I drive to or past a gas station (or stand in a Wal-Mart line, for that matter). Thankfully, my current driving car is a mid-90's Geo Tracker than gets incredibly good gas mileage (usually around 30 mpg or so), but I also own a 2004 Ford F-250 diesel truck that, for the past few months, has been a very pretty white driveway ornament parked firmly by the barn, looking gorgeous and powerful, but doing little else. With diesel prices hovering around $5.10/gallon here, it doesn't much matter that it gets around 20 mpg on the highway - it's still too expensive to joy ride in at the moment. It moves when the horses (or something else big) needs moved. Never to buy groceries or go to a friend's house.

I think we're all watching a very frightening trend in America right now. With rising gasoline prices and suddenly paying twice as much for a gallon of milk as well, it kind of turns my stomach just to get up in the morning and force myself to continue grinding through the days, working hard to try and pay for all of those petty little things that I enjoy - a roof over my head and food in my stomach. Thank God I don't have children - I cannot imagine trying to raise a family right now with economic times being so fragile and tumultuous.

Interestingly enough, I've also noticed another trend. From what I've observed, people are just getting a little more crazy. And stupid. And the more I notice this trend happening, the more I've started to watch.

Take, for instance, the truck that was following me yesterday. I was traveling 43 mph in a 45 mph zone. I was in rush-hour traffic, crossing a bridge, with a red light in the distance about a quarter of a mile ahead. This crazy man behind me, driving a mid-size newer-model truck, starts blowing his horn at me. At first, I start to worry, thinking that maybe I have a blown tire or something wrong with my vehicle, or perhaps I'm on fire, and this nice man is trying to get my attention. I double-checked everything, and things were fine, as far as I could tell. I was in the far left lane of a 4-lane bridge, with a car ahead of me and to my right. I slowed down a bit, just to see what happened. He lurched into the right lane, sped up, and almost took the front end off of my Tracker. 20 feet later, he screeched to a stop, at the aforementioned red light. Once it turned green, he screeched his tires and lurched ahead again, this time only to hit bumper-to-bumper traffic 30 feet ahead of that, through a mile-long tunnel. This man nearly ran me over, to literally achieve exactly the length of a Geo Tracker (what, about 10 feet maximum?) ahead of the long line of traffic that he was forced to sit through just like the rest of us. Brilliant.

Today, apparently, was 'No One Use Their Turn Signal Day', and I was not aware. In the course of my 25-mile drive to my destination, I literally didn't see a single turn signal used. And yet, I was passed and cut off by probably 15 people on the highway (I didn't realize that going the speed limit is a crime these days - which I have been diligently trying to do, knowing that my gas mileage will reward me for it). Twice I had to hit the brakes to keep the front end of my vehicle intact from someone who decided they needed to be in my lane NOW, without warning me first. Holy cow.

In the midst of our national gas, food and job crisis, I honestly think that the media - and reality - is driving everyone insane. Common sense has just gone out the window, and things that we were taught as children were polite, respectful, and correct have just been thrown to the wayside. Things like putting on turn signals, stopping at stop signs, not dodging in and out of lanes, standing patiently in Wal-Mart lines, and not flipping everyone off just because you're having a bad day (gee who isn't right now?) are just common facts that now, suddenly, no longer apply.

Maybe it's just me (but I doubt it). Given the horrendous amount of tragedies happening in the USA right now (social, economic, and otherwise), apparently it just makes sense to just go psycho and forget that we all have to live as peacefully as possible on this planet, regardless of the cost to stay alive.

All I can say is be careful out there, and stay alert. You never know who will want to be 10 feet further ahead of you, or who will be willing to climb over you to get there. It's a scary time to live in - let's all slow down, take a deep breath, and not add to the problem, shall we?

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