In my life, I never imagined I would be paying $4 for a gallon of gasoline.
Not in my lifetime. Ask your parents or grandparents what they paid for a
gallon when they grew up and you will be shocked. My step-dad owned two
Texaco stations, one in Weleetka and another in Okemah. My older brother
worked there, and I hung out with him (mostly just to be around my brother)
Gas is always a little higher on the highway, and our Okemah station was
right off I-40 and always a few cents more per gallon. Once, when we raised
prices to 39-cents per gallon, I recall customers driving up, looking at the price then
driving off. Sometimes squealing their tires, because they were mad at the
high price we were charging.
Now folks will drive across town because someone is selling fuel a few
cents cheaper. It has had an impact on me, how 'bout you? I drive less,
and even drive slower. My wife's car is a 4 cylinder car and when we are
going somewhere together, we always drive her car more than my truck,
because it gets more miles per gallon.
My dad was on a waiting list for a SMART car. Have you seen those little
things? When I saw my first about a year ago I laughed at it. It looked like
something you see in a circus. However, now it is starting to sound pretty good.
He couldn't wait unitl the fall of 2009 for his, so he broke down and bought
a Honda Fit. It is a snappy looking little car that gets great gas mileage and
has a lot of room on the inside. My friend Cliff bought a Fit too. Not sure
if I am ready for something that small yet. But if prices continue to rise,
we may all be forced to drive smaller vehicles.
Here at KJRH, and perhaps where you work, the parking lot has changed
a bit in the past 6 months. Now we have more motorcycles and more
scooters in the newsroom parking lot. One of our photographers drive a
scooter from Mannford to Tulsa every day! We have a couple of folks
who ride thier bicycles to work too. George Flickinger has done it from Broken
Arrow, and George Waldenberger has a few times too.
Yes, times are a changing. I guess we all have to adapt, because I
am afraid that the days of cheap gasoline is over. Not ready for a scooter
just yet, but I have already started driving a lot less, and keeping my
eyes open for something that gets a little better miles per gallon.