In today's college newspaper-Gas prices not bad

[cfield]

What do you all think? My first thought was STFU; as a 40 hour plus per week employee at a great job with mediocre pay, who's husband is a full time student, I sure as hell can't afford the $36 difference she speaks of, especially since I have to drive 40 miles a day round trip to and from work. And I know 20 miles each way is nothing compared to what most Americans drive! BTW, I drive a teeny car that gets 30+ miles to the gallon, giving up my beloved truck was a huge sacrifice but I was forced to do that a year ago just to afford gas. Anyway, here's the article. Let me know what you think, I just may write my first response to the paper...


As of Aug. 21, the average unleaded gasoline price was $2.59 per gallon in Manhattan.
Think that’s expensive? Try living in California.

According to the American Automobile Association’s (AAA) Web site, the state average for California was $2.79 per unleaded gallon. AAA also states that the national average is $2.60 per gallon, which is the highest recorded in U. S. history.

In times like these, you may find yourself wanting to complain to your friends and moan to your parents about this sudden surge in prices at the pump, but this is totally useless.

For the average consumer, gas prices don’t make a considerable difference. My 1995 Mercury Mystique has a 14 gallon tank, and it currently costs me around $32 each time I fill up. When people weren’t griping — when gas was $1.09 a gallon — it cost me $15. That is a $17 difference or about $36 a month. I think I can let go of $36, especially when I cannot control the gasoline market.

For me, I cut out fast food once or twice a week, which is something I needed to do anyway. You can also look back and think about where the $50 that you spent at the bars last week went and think about sparing your liver and saving your wallet.

I am very much aware you want that $50, but unless you can convince your parents your alcohol budget should take precedence over your gas budget, I’m afraid you are out of luck.

The point I’m trying to make is the fact most of us have to drive somewhere at some point in time. All you have to do is quit complaining, make some sacrifices, and pay what they want.

If you truly can’t afford it, again, stop sitting there whining and dust off your bike or organize a carpool. I know not all of our parents are able to send us money while we are away at college, but this is going to help you remember that you are an actual adult who sometimes has to deal with financial issues.

Blaming the Iraq war isn’t going to help. It happened; we are "fighting the war on terror” or whatever they’re calling it nowadays. I find it semi-humorous the very thing we truthfully went to Iraq for in the first place — crude oil — is backfiring on us.

However, that is probably the start of an entirely different article, and the point of this one is we just have to deal with it. There are tons of things we can do to conserve gas, and while I don’t really want to spend time finding out what those are, you have to remember this is all your choice. No one told you to commute or live across town from campus.

I also don’t think anyone pointed a gun and made you buy a fifteen mile-per-gallon SUV. I know it makes you look cooler than the rest of us who drive boring sedans, but at least I only use two tanks of gas every month.

Maybe you didn’t have a choice in what kind of car you bought, but I don’t believe that gives you an excuse to complain about it or how much it costs to drive place to place, especially if your parents are paying for it.

So, take a deep breath, give the cashier your credit card, and thank your lucky stars we don’t live in California.


Kelsey is a sophomore in English Literature. Please send your comments to [e-mail].

[shoelace414]

1. you could have spoke the same way

about the electricity crisis back in 2001.. then you find out Enron is taking record profits.

who's getting record profits now and why aren't the two connected? (price of gas and record profits)

[LynzM]

2. I'm torn on how much you should chew her out

College kids... many (most) don't have an idea of what it's like to live as an adult, or that many commuter fill up more than TWICE PER MONTH. Ha. Hysterical. $250/month for gas starts to look a little scarier than $50.

I dunno, post your draft reply here and let's see what DU thinks :)

[achtung_circus]

3. Oh, where to begin.

Yeah, my parents will foot the bill.

Sure, popping out the credit card is the answer to everything.

$50 per week in booze?

Anyone else want a crack at him?

[cfield]

5. I suck at opinion writing!!!!

But for some reason her poo-poo attitude towards rising prices really irks me. Isn't part of college life to enjoy your last years of fun and freedom before full time work settles in permanantly? And here I am full of guilt because I don't want a second job that would allow me to go out with my husband on weekends to the bars, or at least out to dinner once a week. I want to go home and spend my evenings with him, but by doing so I feel like a failure because we can't afford to go out if we want to. And seeing as how we don't spoil ourselves hardly at all (we do pay $32 bucks a month for cable so we can watch football and there's no use cancelling for just the spring/summer, and we do have internet, but that's practically a requirement for his school anyway, and we do have pets that take a little money to keep fed) there's not much we can cut back on. We're straining to make it two days till payday with 98 cents in one account and 5 bucks in the other and had to bum frickin' groceries off my mom (I HATE asking her for anything!) so we can have mayo on our sandwiches and still keep gas in the car until Friday. So, for me, gas prices being a little closer to reasonable would help quite a bit. I've never been one to get handouts from my parents, and I wouldn't want them anyway. We CAN afford our lifestyle. We don't go overboard, we own our home (trailer though it may be), we both have nice vehicles, but we don't have any credit card debt and if the day comes that we do, gasoline damn well won't be the cause of it if I can help it!
Problem is, there's nothing I can do to avoid paying high gas prices.

[newyawker99]

7. Hi cfield!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[MadHound]

4. Boy, talk about short sighted thinking

Yeah, cut out that $50 bucks/wk that normally goes to the bars. You do it, I do it, all of the college kids do it, and presto, whammo, you've got a dozen college town bars going out of business, leaving a hundred people in the unemployment line.

Stop dropping that $36/wk into local restraunts, and put it into your tank instead, mm-hmm. Then watch as your favorite pizza joint goes under, along with a half dozen other college restraunts, due to lack of business.

No wonder this woman is an English Lit major, she has absolutely no grasp of basic economics, nor can she seem to concieve of the real harm these prices are causing outside of her narrow, campus dominated world. Perhaps when Mommy and Daddy come up broke, and can't afford her tuition, maybe then she'll figure it out.

[Hobarticus]

6. Another self-righteous pinhead, telling everyone to carpool or bike

Seems to be lot of those, anymore. Wonder if they stop to think that either alternative isn't always an option.