Pay at the pump

September 9, 2007

For the past year or so, I’ve been buying my gas at the only remaining gas station in town which doesn’t require pre-payment or pay at the pump. Now, because of drive-offs, they too have switched to pre-payment or pay at the pump. I was pissed. I took a half hour drive after work to the neighboring town, to the only gas station that trusts people to pay after pumping. For starters, I’m being totally raped by the gas station, oil companies, and everyone else in the world who undeservingly demands my hard-earned money. Almost everything I buy turns out to be a complete piece of shit. I can't be the only one who’s noticing this. And what recourse do I have? None! I’m fucked and that’s it, period. My solution to this is to simply stop being a consumer and only buy things I really need. Anyway, back to the pump. Paying at the pump encourages people to use credit cards. The average American already has over $8,000 in credit card debt. I don’t think we need any more encouragement. Credit cards are being marketed and supported as a necessity, much like your stupid cell phone you have glued to your ear while you almost crash into me while driving that car you owe an outrageous amount of money on- but I digress. Let’s say I use my debit card instead of my credit card, which I do, I don’t want to run my card twice! I’ll have to run it at the pump and then go inside and run it again. I don’t get charged more from my bank or anything like that, but it’s just stupid! Why make my bank statements and checkbook more complicated? Why do I have to be inconvenienced? My other option is to go in and pre pay. I have to walk in, guess how much my car will hold, and either put too little in or end up going back in the store and waiting in line AGAIN to get my change. All because some people are driving off without paying. I can’t say I blame’em. Have you seen the price of gas?! They probably can’t afford it. I can barely afford it! In 1997 gas was around a dollar a gallon. Since then it has tripled. The toll booth where I work used to be 30 cents and now it’s 60. Heating costs are through the roof, houses are practically unattainable for most people, and debt is out of control, individually and globally. Has your pay doubled or tripled lately? Mine certainly hasn’t! We are being suffocated by the very structure we created. The rich continue to get richer and the poor… well ya know. America has only been around for a short time. China has had hiccups that have lasted longer than our entire history to date. If things don’t change now, America will fail. It’s textbook civilization failure. We are Rome. Hundreds of years from now, the entire United States experience could turn out to be just a footnote in time. Some highly intelligent Somali kid will read this in his history book and laugh at our stupidity and arrogance. So what can I do? In the end, all I can do is write things like this, because all gas stations will become pre pay, all items will be marked up, and most Americans don’t care enough to do anything about it and even if they do, they are practically powerless. It’s a fragile existence we’ve dreamed up. I’m sorry to say, The American Dream seems more like the American myth to me. How long should I allow myself to be exploited and abused by a system, a government, and a society that doesn’t care, before I put up some sort of resistance, even if only a futile resistance? We must become proactive if we are to survive.