Losing My Sanity
I'm not kidding. I'm still pissed that the gas prices aren't $1.80. Oh no, I haven't forgotten that nice comfortable level. I'm still expecting gas to be that price. So when I see 2.50 for gas, I'm pissed. When I see the price start at 2.50, and then be at 2.95 at the end of the night, I can't do anything else but play out the image of the gas station going up in flames over and over as that pump continues to rape me. Then I get in my car and drive off, and pop a Xanax. Just in case I start really considering it. Wouldn't want to do something like that in a rage.
The thing is, I'm not just some pissed off commuter. Don't get me wrong, the people who drive to and from work every day certainly have a right to be pissed off. But others have more of a right to be pissed off. Like me. Because of hurricane Katrina, after fuel costs for the day, I made 4 dollars. Yes, 4. I averaged 6.35 an hour yesterday. That is poverty. I usually average around $11 an hour. It's usually higher. Gas prices are directly responsible for this. It's fucking horrible. I'm dying here. For a 19 year old, I went from earning a very good income to being reduced to poverty. Every other driver and every other trucker out there is going through the same thing. And in the end, I'll get better mileage compensation and so will the truckers, and it'll all be passed on to you, the buyer.
You'll pay more for your pizza. You'll pay more for all of your groceries. Don't even think about flying. These airlines are already going out of business. We're being raped here. There is no reason for this bullshit. I've done a lot of research and I've read for hours. I know what's going on, and someone who's informed needs to tell the truth. I'm willing to take on anyone who's willing to challenge this.
We are getting fucking gouged. There is no reason for gas to go up on average, 50 cents over night. In many places, and it certainly isn't rare, prices are well into the $3 range. In George, gas is above $5 dollars a gallon. What's going on here? Why are the prices so high, the average Joe might ask.
Well, the guys who own oil stocks, and those with great interest in the stock market will tell you it's all about supply and demand. It's all about buying oil from OPEC and then refining it. When Ivan struck last year, this didn't happen. The gulf oil rigs were fucked then, and we weren't hit like this at the pump. There's just no reason for this. The oil companies are taking advantage of a natural disaster. I understand that a natural disaster can effect prices, yes. But not like this. And that is my key point. There is no reason for this to be happening. They think people will buy this excuse, which most do, and they're running with it because their first priority is to increase shareholder value.
It's so bizarre, and I still don't understand this. Out of all the gas stations in my county, every one of them had extremely different prices. All ranging from 2.62 to 2.95. None of them were the same, and the gas station that is always the cheapest is now the most expensive. It's just bizarre. When gas prices do stuff like this, I start to go crazy. Because that makes my income and my future unpredictable, and I feel a great loss of control over my own life thanks to our Oil Overlords. It sure sucks to be me.
I didn't see any looter shootings on TV. It made me extremely depressed. I got really excited though, because they keep showing that clip of the NO cop with the shotgun pointing at the looters who then drop their shit and walk away like little children caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I got really excited the first time I saw it. Oh well. I'll end this idiotic tirade now and return shortly with more substance. I'm really losing it with these gas prices. I don't know what I'm going to do.
posted by Matt The Sick at 6:41:00 AM
12 Comments:
Matt-
I think the fact that the economy hasn't totally crashed with these high gas prices speaks to its overall strength. You are worried about your future as a pizza delivery person. No disrespect, but I hope you did not plan to spend your life doing this. I can tell you have potential to do great things.
Cupcake.
Umm we are only talking about 3 days here. This thing is going to have a great ripple effect and if the economy doesnt crash it will definitely depress it. There are articles in foreign papers today and yesterday where they are bracing for their own economies to crash as a result of this thing.
Its ironic that we just talked about this days ago on the post about running out of oil and here it is taking place.
Gas prices rise, people panic and start to buy all the gas they can. Oil companies start to ration which only leads to more panic. Lawlessness as you see rules when the infrastructure is gone. US refineries were running at 98% capacity before the storm. Now they are unable to handle demand. This will effect the economy for a long time to come and thinking it only effects soemone who drives for a living is misguided.
People have to pay more for gas and they dont have money left over to buy that pizza which is now more for the same reason. Maybe the delivery guy cant afford to go to the movies or that wrasslin match now. The guy who takes tickets at the theatre gets laid off because attendance is down and now he cant buy as much. It ripples across society except in this case the shit rolls uphill to the rich.
James -
Gas prices have been out of control for much longer than 3 days and we have manged to pull through so far. I can't predict what is going to happen now, but if the economy was not strong we would have gone through the turmoil you describe long before this.
Cupcake.
Gas prices have been getting high they have by no means been out of control. compare the 1960 price of gas with that of other goods such as food and you will see that gas has been historically much lower when compared with other goods. But that isnt the problem here. We arent simply talking about gas prices we are talking about supply or lack thereof and that is a bog difference. It will drive up prices of all goods not just gas. as for your last statement, nothing we have encountered as far as gas prices would have set off the kind of turmoil I described. I wish I and seemingly the rest of the world had your optimisim.
James-
What do you mean there is a big difference between gas prices and supply and demand? Prices are all about supply and demand! Do you think that prices have not been driven up in all areas of the economy with rising gas prices until now? Are you saying that the economy has not been strong aside from the gas prices to this point?
By the way, the sky is blue. (just checking to see if you will disagree with me on that too)
Cupcake.
James-
In addition, the last part of your statement is just in agreement with what I said earlier. The reason nothing we have encountered so far would not set off that turmoil is because THE ECONOMY IS GOOD. It has been able to handle what we have encountered so far.
Cupcake.
High gas prices are one thing. Having no gas is another wouldnt you say? While it is true that what gas you have when you dont have much will be higher the scenario I am speaking of is shortages or none, not necassarily the price. Though as you have hit upon it is all related. However you can see the difference in action right now. People in Georgia are paying high gas prices. People in New Orleans have none and hence have a much bigger problem.
You say we have encountered this bad thing but the economy has been good enough to withstand it. I say what we have encountered to this point isnt the same as what we are facing now and the economy may not withstand it (I hope it does). And to answer your question I would call the economy "rebounding" not strong. The unemployment rate stands at about 5.5% now which is down slightly from last year but still higher than it has been since 1995. I think we are in an economy that has been showing signs of recovery and strengthening but I think no matter how strong the economy if our ability to process crude oil and refine it isnt rapidly brought back to full strength we could be facing a recession or worse a complete crash.
BTW it is night here so the sky is black. See what happens when you make broad assumptions? :)
James-
Fair enough.
(I just KNEW you would disagree about the sky.)
Cupcake.
All of these problems are a direct result of OPEC. They love seeing this thing play out. They want America to start lowering the price of its own gas. America imports, I believe, 60% of its oil from OPEC. This means we can't supply enough oil for our own country so we have to depend on OPEC. If we lower our own oil prices it can only last for so long until we start to run out. Then, OPEC, will raise its prices even more, and we have no choice but to raise our prices as well. Its a no win situation until we actually have a source of fuel of our own which can handle our demand, but we don't want to ruin a wildlife refuge in Alaska (how ridiculous).
I spent $57.00 on gas today. My wife filled up for $52.00 yesterday. We wait till we have about a 1/4 of a tank left then refill. The timing was horrible this time.
I work in the flooring industry. People don't realize that pretty much all flooring is made of petroleum. We had 7 price increases this year, so far. So, James is correct. Its not just the gas we are paying more for. It is everything.
PJ
Hey Matt, you guys in the US of A have been having it ez.
Out here in Bangalore, we pay like INR 47.22 per liter (and they are talking of it moving to INR 50), which works out to USD 4.0675 per gallon.*
Welcome to the real world!
* 1 gallon = 3.7854 liters and 1 USD = 43.945 INR
It's only been 3 days, Cupcake. The economy WAS strong, but only by comparison of course. It took years after 9/11, and I never even saw one sign of a crashing economy. The fact that I'm seeing signs now is absolutely scary. Just wait a couple more weeks when people REFUSE to adjust to this much of a price increase.
Also, no I don't plan on doing this for the long term. I'm only 19. I'm still in the figuring it out stage of my life. I have to pick one thing, and put my all into becoming the best there as. It's an important decision, so I'm just figuring it out at the moment.
However, in the mean time, making money driving my car which I love doing, while smoking, while talking to my girlfriend on my cell phone, while listening to Opie and Anthony on XM, etc is a very fun thing. I get paid, and I use to make a lot, but my income depends on the economy. I don't want to have to find another job when I have a job I really like, and a job I'm really good at. It's not a career. Just a job for now.
James
The economy IS crashing. Tonight at 6:30, the roads looked like 10:30. No one is driving. No one is buying food at restaurants anymore. My Dad told me he went to a very busy restaurant in NJ that normally takes an hour to get into. He walked right in, and it had half the normal amount of people in it. This is in New Jersey for christ's sake. This is happening everywhere, and I don't understand why no one's talking about it. Am I the only one panicking here?
It is very ironic. We were indeed just talking about this scenario the other day. I for one don't believe there's a shortage. They're creating a shortage by pricing the gas so high. People are only filling up because we know it's going higher. If the prices stayed the same, there would be no possibility of a shortage because people wouldn't be filling up and hoarding gas. The oil companies are creating this hysteria themselves, and someone needs to step in and stop the bleeding here.
Great elaboration. I hope people will understand what you just said. And people really don't fathom how much gas is used for everything. It's to a point now where the business owners WILL be passing the cost to customers. This is all bad, and you're right it rolls uphill to the rich. Only the people at the top tier are keeping their big profits while everyone else adjusts. This is horrible man. I'm glad someone sees the potential of a depression.
Cupcake
You make a good point, Cupcake. And I'll address it. You see, yes gas prices have been out of control for the past 6 months. However, the tricky thing about that is they rose the prices GRADUALLY. Like watching a kitten grow, it just doesn't effect you the same. You can slowly adjust when prices are raising a penny or two a day, then going down, then going up 3, etc. When you raise them gradually, it doesn't cause panic and we don't bitch as much. Because they rose the prices over the course of 6 months, we just didn't feel it the same. Good point though, and I hope that puts things in perspective.
Amanda
3.99 gas is absolutely unbelievable. If you only knew how much profit the oil companies are making. It's horrible. I hope you enjoy your vacation. Luckily, you won't have to drive at all at Disney. Those buses drive you everywhere. Hopefully after your vacation, gas prices will settle down. Have fun!
James
I too wish I had Cupcakes optimism. It's hard though when I go from making 40 dollars a night to 11. I'm consistently making 25% less money, and I'm going broke because of this. Like I said, I wish I could be optimistic too. But that's hard when I see soaring profits when I look at 5 day stock charts of any oil/gas company.
msbrooksie
Your boyfriend drives a Porche? *coughbastardcough* :)
Well, it's good to see a positive outlook I suppose. I wish walking was an option for me. Shit, I have an 80CC Honda scooter I'd drive around if I could. But I need to buy gas to work, so I'm screwed. It's thievery really. They're literally taking money that would normally goto me and it's going to them.
People ARE showing everyone that we can live without their car. I'm seeing it first hand, and it's effecting people like me and anyone who owns a business. People aren't buying anything because they're prioritizing. Gas and bills first. Something needs to be done and soon. I do hope it goes down, but in the mean time it's breaking the bank here. Thanks for the positive outlook.
Cupcake
Prices generally are all about supply and demand. However, in this specific case, I just don't believe it and I call bullshit. They're creating the demand by charging outrageous amounts for gas. No ones buying gas here anymore, because they already filled up. Everyone is filling up. Now gas is going to sit there in the ground at those gas stations. There's no supply problem at all. Losing 8 out of 149 refineries HARDLY creates any type of supply problem. Let's say you have 150 employees, and 10 of them quit. Do you think your business is going to be in trouble? I think not. It's bullshit. Look at a stock chart and you'll see the truth.
Prices haven't been rising in the past 6 months. If they have, it's been gradual which is much different than 50 - 100 cents over night. The average commuter isn't as hurt by this as people like me are. I mean, if you have a 10 gallon tank on your car, you pay 10 dollars more to fill it up. That's not too much. I'm losing 30 dollars A DAY. Truckers are losing much more than that.
As for the economy, it's only been able to handle it because this transition to paying twice as much for gas has been gradual. The economy is now going to get hammered. And in my opinion, the economy was only good by comparison. It was still recovering from 9/11 at this point. Right now, the economy is complete shit. At least the food industry. I'm sure grocery stores aren't hurting too badly, aside from the price to ship all of the products they sell and receive. Think anyone's going to buy a car any time soon? Maybe a Hyrbid. Unless something happens very fast, we're going to start slipping down a very dark road.
James
I too fear a complete crash. These oil companies are really pushing the envelopes. I wish I could have a black heart and dead soul so I could run an oil company. I think I'd be good at it.
PJ
OPEC definitely is a problem, considering the fact it costs them $4 to produce one barrel. But a lot of companies have nothing to do with OPEC. Shell, and the company that owns Race Trac, they are completely independent of OPEC yet they are still charging the same as everyone else.
You're right, people can't fathom how much oil has to do with EVERYTHING. And these oil companies know that, and they know the public is generally uninformed. The average person just doesn't have a clue. They do know they're getting raped at the pump and they do know they're going to spend their money wisely though. Thanks for the comment PJ.
Shastrix
I've thought about this a lot, and here's my theory. First of all, what you pay in gas might be in tune with the average income over there. I'm curios to know what the minimum wage in American dollars is there.
However, I think the reason American oil companies don't play the same games that foreign companies do is because they generally fear the American public, and they know they can't do it. I hope we don't let them. I definitely appreciate you bringing in your perspective.
Matt,
If the price of gas is in tune with the average income in BLR, then it should be lower out here, right?
Also, if you apply the informal Purchasing Power Parity (1 USD = 10 INR) that my brother uses whenever he's in India, we are paying way above you folks.
3.7854 l = 1 gallon = 3 USD = 30 INR works out to INR 7.93 per liter. Man, give me that some day!
I felt sad I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.
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