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So, there we were, me and about 70 or more of my fellow citizens, lined up in an orderly fashion at the Quick Trip on Briarcliff Road near Shepherd’s Lane a little after 10 a.m. today, when it seemed to me that the guy filling his small burgundy Chevy pick-up (with DeKalb County plates) had been there for a very long time and was filling his tank in a very odd fashion. He was basically squatting next to the pump away from prying eyes and I could see gas spilling in generous pools on the ground. That’s when I saw the gas cans—four or five of them. Having filled his tank, he was filling gas cans, and as he moved the nozzle from can to can without stopping the pump, generous rivers of gas were pouring onto the concrete, even as the line of cars grew. I noted the handicapped sign jammed rather suspiciously on his dashboard (there was no other indication about the vehicle or the man that he was handicapped—he could squat longer than a ballerina, so clearly his quads are doing okay). I looked back over the line of all those well-educated, civilized, above-the-fray CDC, Emory University and Hospital employees, sitting there like so many polite and well-trained sheep and I realized that what I was about to do would stun them, but in the very rural area where I come from, we don’t sit there and hope that some government entity will step in to stop injustice. I stepped out of my beat up, 13-year-old car, and took my 42 year-old dumpy self across that expanse of concrete and said “Sir! Please have some consideration for the other people here. You’ve filled your truck tank, move on! What’s wrong with you? Look at all these people waiting for gas!” And he said to me, as if he thought the rest of us were there for the great coffee, “Don’t come screamin’ at me! I’ve got to get to work!” (I know that’s not exactly a snappy comeback, but if you’d seen this bozo you’d probably be impressed that he was able to put so many words together.) “Where do you think the rest of us are going?!” I demanded to know. “This is the problem: People like you hording gas! I’m reporting you! I’m calling the police!” It occurred to me as I headed for my cell phone that the police probably couldn’t do anything. What, I wondered, could they charge the guy with? But, almost as if some higher power had heard my pleas, just at that moment a DeKalb County Police officer showed up, attracted by the traffic jam, and the white-haired, nasty old selfish coot packed up his personal gas station and got on his way, leaving a gas replica of the Exxon Valdez spill behind him. As he pulled away, splashing through the gas he’d poured on the ground, he flipped me off, and since our windows were down and we were in close proximity, I said “You are a swine. You should be ashamed! You are what is wrong with this country, you jackass!” And this fool has a “Support the Troops” ribbon on the back of his truck. The sheer hypocrisy of that was particularly galling for me as a member of a military family. How is this guy supporting the troops? By increasing our dependency on foreign oil? As I pulled up to the next pump, a neatly dressed guy got out where the coot had been and promptly slipped in the gas puddle. No one looked at me. We seem to have arrived at a time in our history when the ability to roll over and take it is more valued than the ability to stand up on your own hind legs and demand that people have some respect for the broader society. And that’s shameful. Here we are whimpering about unity and putting our country first and making a difference, and when given a chance to unite in shaming the morons who have delayed recovery from the gas pipeline interruptions by hording gas, the lot of you sit there in your posh cars and do nothing. Whether you’re supporting Obama or McCain in November, you betrayed your country this morning by saying nothing. Silence, you may recall, is implied consent. If you sit there saying nothing while this selfishness takes place in your presence, you are as guilty as the jerk who’s hogging the gas. Every one of us should have been screaming at that guy, pointing at him and calling him a swine. It doesn’t take violence to strike a blow for the greater good; public shame goes a long way, my friends, and I suggest that in this gas crisis, we put it to use. Consider this the official Georgia Gas Crisis Wall of Shame. Send me your stories about these morons and I’ll post ‘em here for you. SP COMMENTS
You noticed that this old man was from out of town. The simplest logic allows you to reasonably infer that he drove quite a distance looking for gas, and didn't want to do so again. By your logic, better he should fill up his tank, drive all the way home, and burn even more fuel getting back here next week...than you should be late for work.
Paul, the man's license plate was DeKalb County, and that's where the gas station is. Clearly he is not from out of town. In the future, please read my blog postings before you comment on them. Doing so would make you look far more intelligent than is presently the case.
"How is this guy supporting the troops? By increasing our dependency on foreign oil?"
You hit the nail on the head with that one.
Although you missed the greater point, which is:
Everyone driving an SUV or a giant overblown pickup truck (8-12 mpg for the bigger pickups like Dodge Ram "Giganto") has made a conscious choice to increase our dependency of foreign oil.
If people had prioritized fuel efficiency over the past 2 decades and mileage per vehicle averages were over 40 mpg, we wouldn't have this problem with oil, prices, the economy, etc.
Miles O'Brien of CNN recently hooked a computer up to his Yukon SUV to test actual mileage on the road.
He got 2.9 mpg in the city, hit a couple longer expanses of concrete and managed to finish his commute to work with a whopping 4.9 mpg average.
This on a vehicle whose dealer sticker advertises 4 times the mileage, which is still too low, frankly.
This country and its government long ago made a choice to have an oil driven economy, with auto makers putting their energies into lobbying Congress to keep mileage standards low and to pass tax cuts for those buying SUVs, which they make far more profit on per vehicle than on a small car.
And yes, auto makers have even stooped to outright lying about the mileage their vehicles are bringing to the roads.
It's called a disclaimer - as in: "Your mileage may vary."
If you bought an SUV, you clearly looked the other way on the good of the nation.
One guy with a couple of gas cans? He's nothing compared to the army of selfish morons burning 5-10 times the fuel to get to work than those "Liberal Tree Huggers" in their Jettas and their Toyota Prius Hybrids are using responsibly.
Next time please, put the blame squarely where it belongs. As egregious as one guy with some gas cans may be in a shortage, a vast mass of Americans have made the bed we all lie in today.
And they, the SUV folks, should step up, admit they are selfish pigs, and take the blame they so justly deserve for both high prices, massive funding of Terrorist States, betraying the troops by such funding, and shortages in the land of plenty.
I didn't get "driving an SUV is unamerican" from the piece. What I got was that we are becoming either complacent, submissive, and tolerant of what should not be tolerated.
If we see someone doing what is clearly selfish and not in the best interest of the whole, we're more likely to go flame on some blog in cyber-space than to actually participate in life and seek justice in the here-and-now.
GO Ramage! Bring 'em a taste of Laurens County up there... they clearly need it! (sans "Redneck Games", please)
"I didn't get "driving an SUV is unamerican" from the piece. What I got was that we are becoming either complacent, submissive, and tolerant of what should not be tolerated."
Thanks for making my point, even if you don't understand it.
Don't sweat your lack of understanding, Andrew. No one is expecting you to be quick on the uptake. We've read your posts.
But just to be helpful with your clearly sub-par logic skills let me point out that...:
...a column about how wanton fuel consumption is rude and against the common good -- lends itself quite neatly to the bigger issue, which is:
Why only see the problem with wanton fuel consumption when fuel is short?;
Why not see the problem with wanton fuel consumption all the time, since it has driven up - doubled - the cost of fuel recently? (it's about supply and demand, Andrew. You can find that concept in "BOOKS".);
Why not see the problem with having no fuel plan, or reasonable fuel standards in place to begin with?;
Why not see the problem with driving 5-10 miles on a gallon of gas in an SUV when you could buy a vehicle that gets 40+ miles on that same gallon?;
Why not see the problem of fuel coming from Terrorist Supporting Countries and tie this directly to poor mileage = higher demand = more money to Terrorist States?;
Why not see the problem of wanton fuel consumption in this country for what it is - namely anti-our-best-interests?
I know, you still don't get it, Andrew. But I understand. I've read your posts.
Your personal gratification Right Wing quips straight off the Rush Limbaugh radio program have added nothing of substance to the discussion at hand.
In the future, Andrew, maybe rather than venting your personal vitriole and getting yourself off with psuedo-witty personal attacks on others, you could consider sparing us the theatrics and just move directly to masturbating in public.
It would be far more honest of you.
God Bless you Harris! You'll be surprised to learn that I'm not a "Ditto-head", I haven't been "Hannetized", nor do I drive an SUV.
However, I'm not going to judge someone who drives an SUV and assume that they do so because they support terrorism. Don't assume everyone who drives a land-yacht is doing so by choice. Smacks of elitism, Barak!
Furthermore, If I hear Limbaugh's voice spill from said truck, I'll try not to apply a "right-winger" label to the driver instantly. Granted, that's not easy; it's in our nature to size people up in a flash.
I know some "cowboys" and some "bikers", some "gangstas" and some "rednecks", and I find that almost NONE of them fit the stereotypes that most people would hang on them. Before Al Gore invented the internet, before "cyber-space", there existed this realm of "real space". It's sometimes loaded with "real people". Get out of the house occassionally and make their acquaintance.
I know, we just don't have the time or the patience to get to know someone before we decide WHO THEY ARE and WHAT THEY BELIEVE! I sincerely appreciate and even SHARE some of YOUR views. Are you a "right-winger"?
Your personal politics cause you to miss the point. Try reading without your liberal filter. This election and the "Wall St. vs. Main Street" crisis (a gross misrepresentation of reality) has the rhetoric at a fever pitch.
You jump in because it can be fun (I did), but you find yourself arguing a narrow worldview that belongs to one faction or another because it becomes about "winning" the argument, scoring points.
I hope I'm not giving you too much credit by believing that you are not just another lost cause. You may find that we have more in common than you think!
I find it interesting and a bit disconcerting that you would advocate "public masturbation". Where do you recommend? On a bench at the park? The church vestibule? By the bouncy-pit at Chuck-E-Cheeze's? Outside of Starbucks at the mall? (Do you take cream?)
Come back to us, Harris. Be a "mensch"! And if you do find your way, maybe you can explain to me what "pseudo-witty" means. Is that when something makes you "pseudo-laugh"? You must be logged in to post a comment. You can log in here. |