unpopular stance

Have you ever been in a situation where a group is discussing something which they all agree upon, but you don’t share the same opinion?

The price of gas has nudged out “how’s the weather” as the top topic of banality. I cannot escape this conversation - on the bus ride to work, at work, on the bus ride home, at the gym, at the game, and, even last night, at home.

“It’s $3.62 per gallon at the corner.”
“I can’t continue to put cheap gas in the car.”
“The guy in front of me paid $200 to fill his SUV.”

Last night, I spoke up for the first time.

“Gas should be expensive.”

You would have thought that I just admitted to being a pedophile based upon the looks that I got.

I want to be fair and say that I don’t own a car. Actually, I don’t even have a driver’s license, and if you were dying, I’d call an ambulance because there’s no way I’d get behind the wheel of car. I know it’s quirky and weird but, I have managed to live a full life despite of it. My family never owned a car in NYCity and I never had use for one in the thirty years that I lived there.

Living in the DC area makes it a little more challenging but, I have managed to do okay these past ten years. My Honey has a car that he loves and I don’t mind being a passenger but, for the most part, I generally get around on my own steam.

Maybe that’s why I like vacationing in SoBe so much. No car needed there when everything you might need is in a ten square block radius. Even in LA I get around just fine on their extensive bus (and limited train) service.

So, last night I threw it out.

“Gas should be expensive.”

I was asked why and this is the best that I could come up with under pressure (I think I did okay):

• 
  Too many people are using their cars on a daily basis and as a result we’re depleting one of this world’s most powerful resources at an alarming rate making us beholden to foreign nations.
• If gas was more expensive, more people would consider riding public transportation, carpooling, or limiting their driving to weekends to run necessary errands.
• Municipalities would be forced to develop transportation systems that serve the privileged and the poor.
• Our air quality would greatly improve.
• Car manufacturers would be forced to develop energy efficient cars.

... and ... I ran out of stuff to say. I was told that I would think differently if I actually drove. Probably, but I’d like to think that if I did drive, I would use my car sparingly. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when my Honey picks me up at work sparing me the very short bus ride home; I curse not being able to drive when I am caught in the rain on a day I have to dress up for work; and there’s a lot to be said about being able to drive out into the county side to reach clean air.

Alls I’m saying is that gas should be expensive so people can

appreciate it.

The group called me a freak and dismissed me (and then they hopped in their cars and told me that no, they weren't going to give me a ride and that I should wait for the next train and then the bus and get home much much later than they do). At least I had my principles ... although getting home in time to see the Amazing Race would have been nice.