soaring gas prices

COMPUTER PRACTICES
Professor Paul Hambleton
July 17, 2008
By,
Samina Tauhid
GAS PRICES AND US.

It really is amazing how our daily lives are affected by one little hike in the price of gasoline. Common people like me are not educated enough to understand what and who is controlling the prices of gas and other commodities. We are more concerned with using our time to find a way to manage our daily budget instead of trying to investigate the cause. If you fall under the low income category, you really are a loser. And I mean it. You are a real loser. You lose on your daily groceries, you lose on your kids’ entertainment, because of so much stress you lose on your own health, ‘the most important gift’ from God, which we all take for granted.

A layman like me is not aware of the game played by real market players like Shell, Caltex, ESSO or any private distributors for that matter who are making their own profits by an artificial price hike. Just a peek in the quarterly reports of these giant oil companies shows what a huge profit these companies are making. Their economic outlook shows no losses.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations have increased their oil production just recently and still there’s no change, or rather, no cut down in gas prices what so ever. Why? And it’s a big WHY with a big question mark? I don’t know the answer to this question, as I’m not an economist, but I know one thing for sure: the soaring gas prices and that of the other commodities have made everyone’s lives miserable to some extent.

Like many others, the increase in gas prices directly affects me as well. I have consulted some of my colleagues, friends, and neighbors on the matter. They all shared the same opinion: they are in misery because of the gas prices. “I drive 55 km to work which is 110 km daily. My company is not paying for my gas,” says Omar, a friend. At the end of the month, he ends up paying more on his credit card bills. This is a relatable story to most people, like me, who drive back and forth from work, school, and home. We are under a tremendous stress. Our health is at stake.
Some of our friends have cancelled their vacations and they are not alone I stand with them. “We simply can’t afford to go anywhere,” says my husband Khateeb. Oh no! I cringed inside with anger. I had been planning on a vacation to visit my brother’s family in Florida for so long. “I deserve this vacation. I’ve been working full time and studying full time. Don’t you think I need a break?” I snapped back.
“Yes you do, take a break and stay home. No more vacations on the credit card. Otherwise, you’ll end up working harder to pay off the bills,” says my husband.
“I can check cheap tickets dot com,” my son popped in, but bogged down quickly as he saw his dad’s eyes staring at him.
Fun apart, if we look at the third world countries, we are a bunch of lucky ones. I talked to my father in Pakistan and I was shocked to hear the prices of gas and that of basic goods like rice and flour. The gas price ranges from Rs 85-95 per liter. That’s why more people are turning towards changing their car system to CNG, a natural gas kit. Poor people can no longer even afford to buy basic necessities such as food; they are relying on charities. The middle class society is working harder to get their means of income and expenses sorted out. The society on the whole is declining towards poverty.
We are lucky to be here in Canada. At least we are feeding ourselves and our families here and back home. Thank God for that. I’m sure none of us have slept on an empty stomach or have had to walk 20-30 km to work as most people are doing in the third world countries.
We must think rationally and use the three R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. If we all use car pool and walk to work or else where, it might help save some money at the end.