AP reported today that Americans are feeling the rise in gas prices. In a time where we really have to wonder what fucking rose colored glasses the media is wearing, it's nice to know they can see the elephant right in front of their eyes. What really floored me wasn't the reality check. It was the reaction most of the American "middle" (really upper) class is having to all this.

Kathleen Roberts, who makes a freaking 100-mile round trip commute says: [i]Now, I'm just going to work and coming home... not doing anything else... Instead of going to the market as often, if I don't have it, I just make do. In our neighborhood, we just borrow from each other.[/i]

Max Paredes, an engineer in Rogers, AK, says: [i]I used to pick up my kids from football. Now they need to get rides from other people[/i].

I honestly find myself wanting to scream "Come on! Aren't you the same people I went to high school with!? What planet did you come from?"

When I was in school, we had this neat thing called a carpool. We bicycled to school whenever possible.

[i]Gasp! You went to school by yourself!?[/i] Yes, and so did many of my friends. Sometimes we walked together, sometimes Mom would walk with us. Many times, I biked to school. Abduction rates were just as high then as they are now. Matter of factly, I suspect the streets are safer now than they were then.

When I started high school, it was far enough away to justify a ride. However, most of my travel outside of school was by bicycle. Many friends did the same, and that's where I'm stunned. Maybe it's because I used my bike a lot during college in Mt. View, California. It could also be that when I moved back to Livermore, I just couldn't justify driving where I could bicycle. It could be that I spent a lot of time on two wheels in Los Angeles. Then there's that time I went without a car for eight months.

Point being that my life doesn't begin and end at a gas station. While I certainly am not buying a month's groceries from Costco for a family of four, a bike ride or a walk to the corner store for milk and butter isn't a problem. It's pretty nice. You should try it sometime. I've got it, why don't you send junior for it? I used to get milk and eggs from the corner store for Mom and Dad when I was in grade school.

Max Paredes in Arkansas, maybe you can have your son pick up some milk, walking the way back from football practice.

I'm trying to remember, does America sacrifice anything anymore? These are the same people 10 years ago that were scaling back, right? Remember? Bicycling to work? Taking that job closer to home to spend more time with the family? Oh, that was before we became venture capitalists driving a Hummers filled with shit from Costco? That explains it.

While we're at it, I'd like to address this immigration issue for a few minutes. The protest on May 1st pissed me off. Not because they protested. Hey, more power to ya. If we hadn't supported South of the border death squads and sent your jobs to China, you wouldn't be coming here. What pissed me off is the spirit of sacrifice is gone. Good things shouldn't require suffering, but like a french fry tastes better swiped from a friend's plate, working hard for something usually feels better. If I walk off the job to protest something, I expect to be reprimanded or fired. I have a right to protest, on my own time (this is why most movements progress under a middle class).

Students? Disciplined for protesting? Noooooo? You don't say? Last I recall minors don't have constitutional rights (it's true, back in the 80's, the Supreme Court decided minors in school are not entitled to First Amendment rights, a major setback for school newspapers). It sucks, but hey...back to sacrifice. If these students want progress that bad, they have to give up a little something. Heck, it could be worse. Remember that thing called the civil rights movement when kids were found dead in the back of a car for protesting? Hey, how about those wacky Chinese students back in the 80's that watched their best friends get run over by tanks and die from machine gun fire. They make your tennis shoes and sex toys from prison now.

What do I sacrifice? Well, gee. My car was $700. It gets about 25 miles to the gallon. I work from home and my clients tend to be within bicycling distance. I live in a small studio apartment that costs about $800 a month. I'll be driving to Lady Bastette's house to change the oil and spark plugs in about a week. I prefer to work for a living, but people seem to prefer me behind a computer, and it pays better anyway. Lady Bastette and I have no children, work about 60 hours a week, and combined, have less than two thousand dollars in credit card debt. We eat out about once a week, twice if we feel lucky. I write congressmen and ride my bicycle when I can. Overall, things have been much worse in much better times. I sincerely wish we could ship our President to China or India to get our real jobs back, bring our kids home from the Middle East, and just bomb Iran for pissing us off one too many times.