Man walking his groceries home in shopping cart.

[demgurl]

I was about to go grocery shopping today when I saw a man walking down the street with a cart of groceries. I looked hard to see if the cart was full of homeless type items or if it was groceries. It did, indeed look like groceries. This man looked like he was about in his 30's but the way he walked, he was so angry. You could see the anger in his eyes. I was honestly too scared to stop because the man looked like he would lash out at a moments notice.

I pulled into the store parking lot and mentioned the gentleman to an associate gathering carts. I mentioned that perhaps the man's car broke down and he needs help. The associate knew exactly who I was talking about. He said the man had been a long time customer and he lived close by. The man had gone into the store and started on a rant about how he could not afford gas for his car and he would have to walk his groceries home.

This is so sad. This is what this administration has brought on the country. As NPR reported, this morning, gas does have a natural rationing system at the moment - price. You buy gas if you can afford it but if you can't afford it then you do not! Not a pretty way to ration for a person who said he would demand they open the spigots!

demgurl

[Child_Of_Isis]

1. Do not be afraid of this man.

Next week, it may be you.

[demgurl]

5. I understand that.

And I did actually ask the manager if I could drop and associate at the man's home to get the cart back. The manager said he lives immediately around the corner and has brought the cart back himself the other two times.

I pray because there but for the grace of karma goes I.

The look just reminded me of someone back home. When I was about seven I saw an old man standing outside of a drugstore. I was going in to see what was taking my mom so long and the man just came after me and verbally attacked me. I did nothing and the man had this crazed look, the same one the man today had.

One day, at school, the same man passed by our window and one of the kids called him "Johnny Gluebags" (Not to his face, she recognized him I I asked who he was). I had no idea what that meant and they told me that he carries around a paper bag with glue and constantly sniffs it. He had this very weird kind of mad look all of the time. It scared me way back then. I guess it did not hurt that he went after me verbally and what he was saying made no sense at all.

I hope this poor man will continue to be able to buy groceries. I fear for so many people in our country.

demgurl

[jody]

2. So sad, the only bright thought is the man might have voted for Bush. n/t

[brainshrub]

3. It's hard for me to feel sorry for Americans over this.

The high gas prices suck, and it's going to hurt a lot of people... but it's not like we didn't have ample warning that this was coming. Petroleum is a non-renewable resource: Oil is a temporary energy subsidy from nature. No one said it was going to last forever, but Americans think that being wasteful is our birthright.

As a society, we chose to put all our eggs in the private automobile instead of investing in public transit. Now that choice is going to bite us in the collective ass.

Soon, the angry man walking home with his groceries will not be alone. We made this bed, now we all have to sleep in it.

[Child_Of_Isis]

4. Yeah, it's hard to feel sorry for folks.

They knew it was coming. Just like the folks in NO.

[brainshrub]

8. Huh?

I don't see the connection.

Americans saw the coming fuel crisis and closed their eyes to it. It was a willful act of neglect.

N.O. civil engineers warned people about the dikes & levees, and were not given the funding to fix it. Furthermore, the national guard is in Iraq right now. The problems in N.O. are due to gross incompetence.

Big difference.

[Lars39]

10. People working 2-3 jobs or 4-5 jobs per couple with kids

generally don't have time to keep up with politics or environmental issues.

[melody]

9. The average American has no impact on these policies

The illusion that we do is a mirage.

I conserve, I recycle, I'm retiring to an energy independent house...so are thousands of others, but the fact of the matter is the gas eating industries go right on and on and on.

[Mikimouse]

6. Anyone thought of starting a neighborhood shopping service?

Get one individual with a pickup truck, and everyone chips in for gas and puts together a list of needed items. Take one or two extra people along to help gather the materials. I am about to suggest that at my apartment complex (there are only 8 apartments, so it would not be difficult).

[GraysonDave]

7. Oh come on

If he lives right around the corner, he should walk anyway.

If it's a half mile there and a half mile back and his car gets 15 miles to the gallon and gas costs $3, he would spend $.20 on gas to go to the store. At $1.50 it would have cost $.10. So the increase in gas is costing him maybe a dime for his trip to the store.

The walk will do him some good.

[FlaGranny]

11. For health reasons, yes,

it would be better to walk. But the fact is, he probably has to conserve gas so that he can get to work. He may have $5 a week to buy gas and it might take $4.95 to get back and forth to work.

[BiggJawn]

12. "Ration" my ASS!

You buy gas whether you can afford it or not.
And if you don't have it in the budget to pay for what you need, then somebody gets fucked.
Then you get behind in your bills.
Then the gawd-dam phone calls start...

Not surprised NPR reported something like that. They think everybody can ride the DC subway to work, like they do...

Take Scott Simon out here and move him in next door, and he'd probably die of fright, thinking the Coyotes or Muskrats were gonna eat him....

[demgurl]

13. One person said about the rationing.....

they were suggesting other alternatives such as a mandatory tax moratorium on gas or some other ideas were discussed. What she said was if we do nothing we already have a rationing system in place and she went on to say it was whether someone could afford it or not. Sad, really.

demgurl

[BiggJawn]

14. Yes, very sad...

Just like the occassional "I wish gas was $10 a gallon, THEN we'd build solar cars!" threads you see here.

Reality is NOT one of NPR's stromg suits.