Pain in the Gas

Friends:

Pain in the Gas

I had to walk today. Not far, but far enough to get me to thinking, almost as dangerous a thing as a stranger walking down Norwich Street in Brunswick, amid detritus of dereliction and urban decay. The "Better Brunswick" improvement crowd some years back had promised better...they didn't deliver.

It was near 100 degrees, and my linen shirt was wet after 3 blocks. Why walk? Well, I was hungry, and a hungry stomach is a man's best friend...Twin Oaks BBQ was just down the road from the muffler shop where I had to leave the Benz.

Thinking...yes, transcending the swollen knee pain, I considered the pain in the price of gas for many. Gas, that addictive alcohol, allows us to pass through life and such environments at great speed, oblivious to the common air of a dull, daily day for many. Not that I advocate such a walkabout...nor am I necessarily a social reformer...as Scripture has it, "...the poor you have with you always," just not the same poor, of course. But such a walk is instructive.

Funny thing about pain: a little of it burns off a lot of shallowness, and gets us back in touch with some things we had forgotten, or neglected or just obviated...like focusing us on what's important in our lives, not the superfluity of it, and believe me, there is a lot of surfeit in it!

"Pain in the Gas," perhaps a wake-up pain for all of us. Like food prices, it touches each of us regularly, some more than others. Our entire national "business model" is built on the abundance of oil. Because of it, we have developed nasty habits of "entitled expectations,” resulting in lifestyles that separate us, that arrogate us as Americans abroad and create a culture of independence. We have lost contact with a lot of reality and a work ethic!

I did a little math gymnastics....In 2007, there were 245 million registered vehicles in the US. Suppose each of them "saved" 2 gallons of gas a week (quit driving one day a week or by other means), equating to 490 million gallons saved. Assume the average price of gas is $4 a gallon. That equates to $1.960 billion, times 52 weeks, equals $101.9 billion "saved," or at least not sent to the arrogant sheiks of Saudi. Would that get their attention? What results would accrue to us?

Much, I think, since walking would fatten the wallets, shrink the girths and restore some community and family values. Moreover, we could exempt Alaska and the Gulf from drills. Imagine the possibilities of such an extreme solution!

My shirt dried out, I survived the BBQ and the proposal from the prostitute, I was not assaulted, mutilated, accosted, or pan-handled on the walk...plus, the muffler was replaced and the gas mileage improved...and now you get to share in the experience...

I guess I'm a liberal after all, and even the Friday Forum lunches are egalitarian...but hey, we're all in this together anyway, let’s make something out of it!

Bud
July 10, 2008