For people like Carrie Frye, 33, a mother who commutes 70 miles each day, the choice is about much more than simply cutting back on entertainment.I didn't even know there where still jobs like this left in the US .. I guess only in red states like Alabama. Working in an American factory - how quaint.
Frye works at a factory in Selma, Ala., making lawn chair cushions. If she makes her production quota, she might bring in $329 a week. If not, it's $220. Either way, she says the $60 a week she now spends in gas comes out of money for food, the doctor, and buying clothes for her kids.
"I just hope they don't grow that fast," she says, filling her tank of her Jeep Cherokee at the Camden BP.
Her job should be shipped to China, and the Chinese factory worker wouldn't make $220 in a few months, let alone a week. But the funny thing is the Chinese factory worker would have more disposable income and wouldn't spend a penny on gas, because they wouldn't own a Jeep Cherokee. I watch Frontline, and I know that Chinese factory workers live in barracks right next to the factory (not unlike myself), and not 35 fricking miles away from work. And passing up food, clothes, healthcare, for gas? Unreal.
When are Americans going to realize that owning and operating your own vehicle is not a right, but a privilege reserved for the world's uber-rich? I'm tired of "poor" Americans complaining about not being able to afford to fill their gas tank. Sort of the whole, "I was sad because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet" thing. Let's bring on the high gas prices ASAP (I want to see $40/gallon) so we can figure out the fall-out and re-architect America while we still have time to catch up with the rest of the world.
Posts
6 comments:
Dude, you're hating on someone who makes $300 a week on a good week. Maybe she's made some bad decisions, but, you're kicking a woman when she's down. Maybe she lives far away because she owns the home, and moving into Selma would cost too much.
In any event, there are people in America more impoverished than she is, who suffer more, and live in more expensive areas, but, she's pretty low on the food chain.
The best line is "I hope they don't grow too fast." She's living a fantasy of sorts, obviously.
I'm with you on the gas price issue. I lived in Germany as a kid, and at the time (over 25 years ago), gas was $4/gallon. I recently heard that it's around $8 now. I personally love living a car-free life. I know that not everyone can do that, but as the economy heads south, it should be something that people consider.
It's true about the rising prices. Resources are getting scarcer and we find ourself paying more and more just to take our children to school. I find it frustrating because there aren't many alternatives (other than gas-driven ones). The best solution is maybe, to conserve as much fuel as we can. I can't say that I'm a genius at this, but I is possible to save a couple of $ per week if you do things wright.
I am from Alabama, and there is NO reason that woman should live 35 miles from Selma and commute that far to work!
A quick google search tells me that Selma has a population of 20,000. Hardly a costly urban core. Median rent is $343, and the vacancy rate is over 6%, so she can almost certianly find something appropriate for around $300/mo right there in town - and pretty much eliminate her gas budget.
It doesn't necessarily get cheaper outside of towns in AL, because then you pretty much have to a) rent a trailor, or b) buy a house on a large expanse of land. Both options are almost always going to cost more than $300/mo.
@meg, I guess your case is not unique, people generally refuse to give up their comfort for something that isn't convenient in short term but pays off in the long term. Probably the best solution is indeed to rent something. The real problem IMO is faced by people who use their cars for daily activities.
I found a book about gas saving tips and I started to save what little gas I could. After a few weeks the gas bill is a little lower (2-3$), but I guess that with time I'll get better at this, so I expect the savings to rise (in any case, 3$/week isn't that bad because it means 150$ in a year)
What frusterates me so much is that a lot of urban areas make it so difficult to use public transportation that the cost is too great. I live it a urban area of 400,000 people and we have a bus system that doesn't run AT ALL on Sundays, doesn't run after 7pm on weeknights except for maybe 10% of the lines, is an hour and a half between buses, typically runs 20 minutes off of schedule, and requires multiple transfers to get where you want to go. All of this for the great rate of $1.75 + about a $.50 transfer fee. For me to take the bus to and from work I would have to add an additional 1-2 hours of commute time (and wait around time) to my work day. Until that changes, I will pay the premium and abuse the environment. The few times I have taken the bus have been extremely frusterating and eye-opening. (I only work about 10 miles from my home, and wouldn't want to live in the neighborhood because of the crime rate... cars often are broken into in the parking lot, etc.)
I guess because it is so inconvenient no one uses it, and because no one uses it, it doesn't run regularly and so is very inconvenient. I think you are correct though, as gas prices rise, public transportation will get better, or people will live closer to their work.
When I want younger I lived in a town in Eastern Europe of the same size and sprawl of the town I currently live in. The buses came every ten minutes or so. (Often enough that you never had to look at a schedule, but just wandered down to the bus stop and waited). If such a system were in place here I can't imagine not using public transport. (Oh, and did I mention it was CHEAP, about what would be $.50 today.)
Post a Comment