April 25, 2000

More on Gas Prices
   by zero <wdunn@vt.edu>

I just wanted to write in to share my view on gas prices.

First off, I am sick of a few things. Number one: people who say that $1.50 isn't expensive for a gallon of gas and rationalize this statement by saying "people pay $2.00 for a cup of coffee at a coffee shop." An editor at our school newspaper, the Collegiate Times, actually had the audacity to write this.
Number two: people who say "Do you know how much the rest of the world pays for gas?" I don't give a shit. Period. Both of these arguments can be summed up in this way: I am used to lower gas prices.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I could go to Borders and get a cup of gourmet coffee for two bucks. Just two weeks ago I went into Borders and got a cup of coffee. You know how much it cost? TWO BUCKS. Wow, what an idea. I'm not upset at Borders for making coffee cost two dollars. Why would I be upset at Texaco charging me $1.47 for 87 octane? Because it wasn't a buck fifty 8 months ago. When I came to school in August, gas was 87 cents a gallon. Since then, the price has almost doubled. I have a right to complain.

People complain about the fluctuation, not the price. If I had been born in a parallel universe where the gas was always $2.00 a gallon, I could deal with it. I wouldn't know that gas could cost 87 cents. But now that I'm in college, man, $1.50 is a major spending expense.

People even tell me I don't have to drive a 1976 gas-hog. Screw you. I like my car. You go drive your Ford Escort.

So I say: PFFT! to high gas prices, and PFFT! to people who want to rationalize them.

Published: April 25, 2000
Editor: stacy