I saw the most bizarre post on Facebook this morning. A retired university professor, a dude who has a pretty generous pension and doesn't exactly live in penury, shared the fact he was going to stop driving his Dodge Ram truck and switch to using his car for running errands. The dude is a nice guy but I swear he does have moments when he's completely clueless. The urge to type something truly snarky in the comments almost overwhelmed me. I had to literally step away from the computer until the compulsion to type "Jeez, I didn't realize the state pension plan sucked that badly" passed.
It definitely does fall into a out of touch with reality upper middle class problem when you have to decide which of your two vehicles you're going to drive because it's going to cost you an extra $10 or $20 a month if you stick with your pickup truck. I can understand the people who live on extremely tight budgets now worrying about gas going back up to where it was under George W. Bush (the most expensive gasoline I've ever seen advertised was in October 2008), especially if you're commuting to work with a car, but a geezer with a comfortable retirement income? Not to mention having a spare car sitting in the driveway? And just how much driving does the typical retiree have to do in any case? The S.O. and I are retired; we both have places we go occasionally, but we don't put a whole lot of miles on our vehicle in a typical month. I joke about wanting to drive my 2009 Focus to the moon before it's completely consumed by rust, but at the slow pace the odometer is changing the rust is going to win.
On the other hand, I will confess I'm not looking forward to the next time we need to put fuel in our F350 pickup. It doesn't get used much -- we bought it to use primarily as a tow vehicle for our travel trailer -- but when it does get driven the mileage is not spectacular and the tank is apparently bottomless.
Total digression: I keep looking at that jacked up pickup in the meme and wondering why anyone wants to drive trucks that have that much of a lift on them. What is the point? Do they think they're going to wander into an accidental mud bogging competition?
Yes, First World Problems just make me Thankful, not upset, if we have so much Privilege that the Cost of Gas is sending us over the Edge, we've truly become a spoiled and weak Society, haven't we? That isn't exactly a hardship for the vast majority who will complain loudest about it... like Old Geezer Retired University Professor... good Lord, mebbe we ought to give him a Gun and send him to Ukraine to Man Up, then he might earn back some Respect he lost for being such a Privileged Pussy.
ReplyDeleteIm thrilled my little Rogue gets good gas mileage. But the next time the grands want mt to drive the 30 miles to their place to watch the ggs...they are giving me gas money.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing an insecure man with a small penis does, is buy a big truck, jack it up, stick on a firearms decal, attach a Trump flag and drive it around the town. Real men don't need the display.
ReplyDeleteYou are right: if you own a expensive new truck for your daily commute you have no right to complain about gas prices.
the Ol'Buzzard
My Family Avg Fuel Economy (FAFE) is 15 to 18 for my stock truck (depends on whether I'm towing the 5th wheel or not) plus our Pious Prime, which is now showing 101.7 mpg between electric and fuel. That's 58.5 by my calcs., and I don't drive the truck unless it's hooked to the trailer. I don't b**** about the price of fuel for either of my vehicles, as they are the choices I've made. And when I can't afford them, or it becomes clear to me that I'm hurting someone or something by having one of them, I'll seriously consider putting them up on blocks. I absolutely agree. If you're driving a truck for your daily driver, you should be ashamed.
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