DAVIS: Tough choice: Spice Girls, mochas or gas

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December 7, 2007

By PATRIE DAVIS The News and Tribune Fri Dec 07, 2007, 09:30 PM EST

In just over a week I’ll be leaving college for Christmas break. That’s right. In a few short days I’ll be piling dirty laundry, my laptop, more dirty laundry, and books that I don’t ever want to see again in the back of my car and making the two-hour drive back to Jeffersonville. I’m pretty lucky.

My best friend spends six hours on a bus driving from Bloomington to Chicago, always made worse by the fact that they get stuck in traffic the whole way there.

Personally, I like the freedom of being able to play music loudly and sing at the top of my lungs, and probably very off key, for the entire trip. It’s nice to have the freedom of having your own car, of being able to drive home when you get out of your last final instead of having to wait for a bus or a friend.

Of course, as the holiday season draws nearer we look at that aspect of driving that isn’t quite as pleasant — gas prices. And this year, it looks like the cost of a barrel of crude oil will be driving up the price of other things as well as that tank of gas.

You’ll also be paying more to fly and see grandma, or ride the Greyhound to see Uncle George in Nashville, Tenn. The rising prices of grocery goods are also reflecting the fact that manufacturers and distributors are charging more to offset rising fuel costs. I’ve filled up my car from my own wallet since I started driving, for the most part.

I remember the good old days when gas was a buck and a quarter, and I can say that without the generally accepted eye roll that comes with any comment preceded by the words, “good old days,” since that was just about seven years ago.

So, I’m obviously not the only one thinking about gas prices for the holidays. I went online today to check my mail and on the main page there’s an article about gas prices and about the fact that people are panicking because oil prices could reach $100 a barrel for crude oil.

Now, if we do a little math, $100 a barrel for 42 gallons of gasoline, it’s pretty obvious that even without all the other fun little hidden costs that drive the price up, that’s going to be some pricy gasoline. According to an article written by Tom Barlow, in the United States we pay about $4 for a 12-ounce Starbucks latte, a barrel of which would cost around $1,792. At vending machine prices a barrel of Coke Zero would cost around $448.

Now, I’m not crazy. I don’t go around filling up my car with Coke Zero and Starbucks latte and I highly doubt that that many of us spend that much every year for 42 gallons of coffee and soda, but we’re all guilty of buying more luxury items than we need, be it Coke Zero, Starbucks, or those really cute boots that were on sale at the mall last week.

You also have to look at the fact that Americans are spoiled, and have been for some time. Consider the fact that in Frankfurt, German gas is $5.29 a gallon and in Teeside, UK it’s $5.64. In Amsterdam, it tops out at a whopping $6.48 a gallon. (Source: CNN)

So perhaps, in the United States, the price of not having to rely on our feet to get us from point A to point B isn’t as steep as we thought it was. Besides, the fact that I’m willing to sacrifice my mochas, even around finals, saves a large number of eardrums from my rendition of all of the Spice Girls songs, in order and without stopping. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Patrie Davis attends Indiana University and is from Jeffersonville. She is also the author of the science fiction novel “Mystic Desert...in the beginning.” She can be contacted at pldavis@mysticdesertbook.com.

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