A Lesson Learned or Lost?

Just a few more observations from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy…People sure love their cars and with that comes the love of gasoline. It’s been 100 years and we’re still hooked on gas. When the power went out our cars were really the only power we had left and the only source of power that we could rely on to charge our other important, can’t do without, devices that require power. Suddenly we were all on a gasoline Jones! People were sitting huddled in their cars with phones or maybe a lap top plugged into what used to be called the cigarette lighter. (Remember when almost everyone in America had a cigarette Jones?)  And as the days dragged on our cars were the only source of heat for many also.

And of course when you’re in your car you might as well go some place! So go they went… even when there was no place to go. Whole families were just driving around while policemen pointed the way through road blocks and traffic jams. Many just drove to the gas stations where they waited on long lines for hours in the hope to “fill er up!” Of course many learned the dreaded curse of the SUV and discovered that it takes almost as much gas to wait on line for gas as it does to actually go someplace. Remember when we used to drive little cars that got lots of MPGs because we were afraid of wasting or running out of gas? How did we unlearn that lesson?

Today we are addicted to gasoline as much as we are or can be addicted to any liquid in our lives. I shudder to think what we will ever do without it. A home without power is still a home, although rather depressing… but a car without gas? That’s a tragedy!