Worth the cost

Sometimes, when I walk past gas stations and look at the sky-high prices advertised on their signs, I have to take a moment to digest the insanity. Such was the case in the summer of 2004, the first time I ever saw gas priced at $2 a gallon. This particular station was in Gainesville, Fla., home city of the University of Florida. So since then, every time the Gators have won a national championship (which they’ve done in pretty much every sport known to man), I’ve consoled myself by thinking, “Well, they might have a decent football team, but at least our gas prices are lower than theirs.” \nThat was, of course, before gas prices here in Bloomington rose above the $3 mark, where they now hover. Some days I pass the Citgo on Indiana Avenue on my way back from class, only to find the price has increased 30 cents since I left home a few hours earlier. \nWhen this ludicrous upswing in prices began, I’ll admit that I panicked. After all, we poor college students don’t have a lot of spare money to use to fill our tanks. Even though as a self-professed environmentalist I try to cut down on driving anyway, it is not easy to walk everywhere. For a while, I was bitter about making pedestrian pilgrimages in sub-zero temperatures to save gas, but then I got used to it. And as odd as it sounds, I’ve come to believe that these unbelievably steep prices might actually be a good thing for society. \nAlthough you might feel like you’re backsliding into your pre-driver’s license days, going sans car is not as hard as you might think. After all, we did somehow survive before we turned 16. Sure, mom and dad might not be here to pick you up and drop you off, but buses, bike paths and sidewalks go just about everywhere in this city. \nBesides, reverting to pedestrian habits will save you money and help you get in some cardio on your way to class. Instead of falling for fad diets, it seems like America as a whole could kill two birds with one stone, stopping the rise in morbid obesity by cutting down on driving time. And anyway, who wants to go several months eating only grapefruit? \nFinally, consider the tons of tailpipe emissions that wouldn’t be pumped into the air if we curtailed our driving habits. You know that nasty odor that you smell when you’re stuck in traffic behind a diesel-belching semi? Well, that’s what’s going into the atmosphere, amplifying the detrimental effects of global warming, and that’s what you’re breathing in on a daily basis. Mmmm ... that’s good air!\nTrue, it sucks when the cost of living goes up, and we have every right to bitch and moan about it. But considering the beneficial effects of inflated gas prices, this might just be a price worth paying.