The cost of gas is atrocious. Thank God I don’t drive all that much. (Although I may need to rely on public transportation once my office opens which will definitely be costly…how can it not with the cost of fuel?) It was not too long ago (less than a month?) that I was paying just under $3 a gallon, which I thought was costly at the time. Now the cheapest gas I can find (as of yesterday) was $4.25. (That was not a station owned by any of the big well known corporations and this was the cash price…use a credit card in most places and you will pay around ten cents more.) I don’t really need gas, but I’m thinking I’d better get it soon because the price is NOT going down in the foreseeable future.
The high cost of fuel has also affected other prices (and will continue to do so). We all know the costs of groceries have gone up. I can (vaguely) remember the days when $100 would just about cover my weekly shopping trip. Now I’m lucky if I can get away with $130 for my weekly run and I find that I have to run out multiple times during the week, so the cost for my family of three is probably closer to $220 a week. And that is with my card discounts and coupons. Shopping (and not just for groceries) has become extremely painful to my wallet. I suspect painful to all our wallets.
So I will complain about costs. However, I also realize that I am fortunate enough to still be able to pay for gas at the pump and groceries at the register. Not everyone is as lucky as I am. The number of those who cannot afford basics is growing every day. So even as prices rise, I will continue to look out for my fellow man and purchase a little extra to put into my local food pantry bin. It’s not much, but it is SOMETHING.
Of course even those who have so little in our country are blessed. Blessed to live in a country that is not being invaded by a power hungry monster. Or should I say an evil, lying, brute? (There aren’t enough words to describe him.) I can complain all I want, but I am not forced to flee from my home, bringing only what I can carry. I am not terrorized by bombs dropping in my residential neighborhood or tanks pushing down the main thoroughfare. I do not need to hide in a bomb shelter. (Do you know where your local bomb shelter is? IS there a shelter?) If I need medical assistance, I can get it. (Forget about healthcare and insurance bureaucracy.) I don’t have to pass by dead bodies…women, children and babies. At the end of the day, I have a place that I call home and I don’t have to worry that I might never return to it. I can complain about my teen’s grades; not cry as he goes off to battle.
We have every reason to complain, and we should complain. We have the FREEDOM to do so. Be grateful that you CAN.
As for me, I will complain, but I will also raise my voice in outrage as I see the savagery being inflicted on a sovereign nation. Be not silent, for silence only allows for the inhumanity to the past to repeat itself. And if you are able, help those who are suffering in whatever way you can.
Lift your voice; not just to complain but to compel change. Act in compassion. Facilitate change however you are able to make this planet that we all share be one of peace.
Beth Shorten is a life-long resident of Verona. For more than seven years, she has been chronicling life here on her personal site, Bfth’s Boring Blog.
