Reveling in the glorious cost of gasoline

FLO MARTIN

I love it. Awesome. Record-breaking gas prices -- just what I’ve

always wanted. Forum Editor Lolita Harper (“Gas prices driving us

down,” April 14) says that gas prices are driving everyone down. Not

this writer. I’m totally stoked.

Maybe you’re thinking that I’m loca en la cabeza (That means

“crazy in the head” in Spanish). Well, people, thank your lucky stars

that you’re driving in the good old U.S. of A. and not in the

European Union.

The statistics published Wednesday morning by the U.S. Department

of Energy purports that the current prices for petrol read as

follows: the equivalent of a gallon of gas in dollars goes for $4.71

in Belgium, $4.73 in France, $5.19 in Germany, $4.97 in Italy, $5.58

in the Netherlands and $5.35 in the United Kingdom.

A cousin of mine in Bulgaria wrote this morning: “These days a

liter of gasoline (I am taking the standard European 95 octane type)

costs about 1.32 Leva, which is approximately 80 cents per liter U.S.

dollars, which means a bit more than $3 per gallon.”

Why the good English? Gogi graduated from an English high school

in Sofia and then received a scholarship to complete university

studies, all the way to his doctorate, here in the states.

However, the average monthly wage in Bulgaria is the equivalent of

about $200, so very few people have cars, let alone drive one daily.

Here in the U.S., we pay a measly $1.97 for a gallon of gas. Crunch

the numbers. You’ll find that the average American pays only 39% of

what the average European driver shells out for the privilege of

driving. Folks, we actually have it good, real good.

Just like the German Hans, Fritz or Helga, every American Tom,

Dick or Harriette is in love with cars. American teens who have

passed a driver’s education course are dying to drive at the tender

age of 16. In Europe, schools do not provide drivers’ education and

teens don’t qualify for a license until age 18.

Only some 50 years ago, we Americans referred to our vehicle as

the family car. Now, every member of the family, who is old enough to

reach the pedals, has a car. Hopefully, when the next gas credit card

bill lands on their desk, Mom and Dad will tell Junior that his

wheels are just for the weekend, and that he can ride his bike or --

how totally uncool -- walk to school. Come to think of it, a daily

walk might just help the kid shed some of those extra pounds the

media is all a-flutter about.

Higher gas prices might help to unclog our Southland freeways.

Carpools, here we come. All my adult life, I’ve loved to drive and I

must say, I’ve been a good driver. Lately, though, I’ve turned

chicken. I stick to the slower lanes on the freeways and watch the

frenzied chaos that has taken over. So many cars, such high speeds.

Cruising in the fast lane is no longer 65 mph; but more like 85 or

90. And the jockeying for space is incredible. Drivers are constantly

cutting one another off just to get one car length ahead of the next.

Oh, well, if we can’t carpool, at least we can slow down and save a

nickel or two on gas consumption.

Another thought. If gas prices continue to skyrocket, maybe the

behemoth monster cars on the road today will become scrap metal

tomorrow. Maybe we’ll find that those cute little Volkswagens (which

I like to call “pregnant roller skates”) more appealing. Macho

drivers, with less horsepower and less volume to move, will have to

slow down and show more respect for one another.

How about if every Tom, Dick and Harriette gets sick and tired of

filling up at the gas station to the tune of $50, $60, $70 -- or, as

a Hummer driver in Europe, $100 -- and starts to scream bloody murder

at the polls? Our fearless leaders might actually start doing

something about public transportation and mass transit.

I would be in seventh heaven. My months-long summer vacations in

Europe rarely include driving a car. We walk, take the bus or ride a

train.

Imagine this: a 10-minute walk to your local mall or downtown, a

20-minute ride on a high-speed train, and voila, you’re at Olvera

Street or Walt Disney Concert Hall or Magic Mountain. Way cool? Yes.

It seems another national outrage these days is childhood obesity.

Joe, my husband of four years, agrees 100%. He lived in France for

36 years and was shocked by the overweight children he saw at the

beach his first year in Newport-Mesa. Compared to the French, Joe

says, the average American adult is overweight and the average

American youngster tips the scales way too high. The Germans like

their strudel, the French their pastries, the Italians their pastas

and the Spaniards their paella, but all with no obesity. Everyone

walks just about everywhere, just about all the time.

Joe is a perfect example. He’s a retired physician, age 63,

5-foot-11, 165 pounds with blood pressure at 112 over 56 and pulse

rate 55 per minute. Joe has a small truck, but literally keeps it

under wraps most of the time. He has three bikes and uses one of them

daily for chores, shopping or recreation.

And when Joe can’t use his bike, he walks. For example, two weeks

ago, he needed to go to a local builders’ mega store for some 10-foot

metal studs. Well, instead of driving 5 blocks, he got out the dolly,

walked to the store, and hauled those studs home on foot. And, on top

of all that, Joe runs 30-40 minutes every evening. The average

Frenchman’s lifestyle eschews the car. No small wonder, gas prices

near the $5 range and parking spaces at a premium.

My mantra right now is, “Bring on expensive gas. Bring on more

sane and safe freeways. Bring on mass transit. Bring on cleaner air.

More, more, higher, higher. I’m never satisfied.”

* FLO MARTIN is a retired high school teacher, lectures part-time

at Cal State Fullerton in the Foreign Language Education program and

supervises student teachers in their classrooms.