The Price of Gasoline-Who turned the Snow Globe Upside Down?

I've been trying to compress my travel. I plan my stops so I can optimize my gas mileage by only running errands that are on the way to my final destination. This works in theory. In reality, nothing is direct. And, life is unpredictable. How would I know that twice in less than three days friends would call with emergencies. And, my husband would say, "Are you running a taxi service?" ...Well, kind of..but, in a strange way, I felt good that I could help and guilty for thinking about the cost of the gas. How can I leave a friend with a sprained ankle to drive herself to the doctor and then to every drugstore in town in search of crutches. How could I decline the request to pick up the co-worker who locked herself out of her house at night and needed a ride to the same assignment I was going. I was already almost to the destination and had to drive back across town to pick her up. What can you do? You can't say no. And, people are appreciative. My friend with the crutches took me out for a nice lunch. And, I know good things will happen for me because I did something good for someone else. Friends are friends for a reason. You know they'll be there when you need them. Friends care about each other. I'll just buy one less cup of expensive coffee or spiced chai and get another gallon of gasoline. Fuel is fuel no matter where you put it...in your body or in your car. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice one luxury item for another. And, since when was it okay to charge almost $4.00 for a cup of coffee just because it has a little foam on top or a drop of syrup? We accepted that and enjoyed it. Now we'll just have to accept the price of gasoline because otherwise, we won't be able to get our cup of coffee. Until we can find alternatives to our bad habits, we'll have to live with them, I suppose. I'm not happy about this fact. I wish I had the answer to the crisis America has become: the devalued dollar, the cost of housing, the high school drop out rate, illiteracy, the cost of health insurance, and obesity to name a few. Are we becoming the next third world? Who turned the snow globe upside down? It's not pretty anymore.