So, I'm driving down the Beltway at 58 MPH tonight and everyone is zooming by me while I'm muddling along in the right hand lane.  I am sure that they are staring at me and if they weren't going by me so fast, I could probably verify that fact!  My driving to work is 80% highway and 20% city.  The problem is that the city driving is "real" city driving with tons of stoplights.  I am therefore trying to get the most out of my highway miles by keeping the gas pedal in check.  I figure that when I'm lucky, I'll get about 28 miles per gallon on my trips to and from work.  Heck!  I'd be ecstatic with that. 

Inside of me, my stomach is turning as I watch all of those people in their big SUV's and minivans, and other gas guzzlers just wasting gas with their right foot.  I am angered but not out of piety but more out of the fact that less than five months ago, I was one of those people.  I was a "starer", I'd stare at anyone in the right hand lane going under 70 MPH wondering what their problem was!!!    I was a serious waster - just throwing precious resources away #1 because I could afford it - and # 2 because I wanted to cut five minutes off of my trip.  Now, I can still afford it (although its getting harder by the day) and I've learned how to get up 10 minutes earlier in the morning. 

I hate high gas prices as much as everyone else does but this isn't ALL about the speculators.  The speculators are only getting rich because we let them get rich.  We continue to treat gas like it will be around forever.  As we use more and more gas and don't ration it reasonably ourselves, those who control the the supply can feel the money coming their way so fast that the palms of their hands have been scratched raw from the itchiness of greed.  The speculators laugh as we push ourselves deeper into a hole. 

I can't fix this problem alone - nobody can.  But as I was driving home tonight, I couldn't help but wonder if we could fix this situation at all by cutting our speed or making less trips or both.  We just have to get to the point where we see gas as an absolute luxury (whether there really is enough or not) and treat it as such!

That's my 2cents, please comment