Sign of the Times

I'm sure many of you have seen this little comment on the price of gas these days...

Maybe on someone else's blog, or somewhere else on the 'net.

With gas here in the Seattle area over $4 a gallon for regular, I guess it's not as funny as it was.

Unfortunately, I recall the last time that we had to actually sit in line to get gas in this country.

I know, it dates me, but whatever.

Back then, it even got to the point where you were only allowed to fill up your tank based on whether your license plate ended with an "odd" or "even" number. Every other day, no gas on the "wrong" day...

It was nuts...and gas went up to around $0.89/gallon. Put into perspective, minimum wage was about $2.65/hour then. That'd make a full timer at minimum hauling in a massive $106 a week.

Figuring that most cars (at least back then) had at least a 16 gallon tank, it'd cost around $15 to fill up. If the average worker filled up once a week, you were looking at 14% of your income going to gasoline. That's gross income, by the way, not net.

When adjusted for inflation (as of 2007), that minimum wage actually looked more like $6.38/hour. So, that percentage of income in spending power was about 6%.

Minimum wage is currently $8.07/hour here in WA - where minimum wage is highest in the country. National minimum is currently $5.85/hour (adjusted to $4.41) It'll go up to $6.55 July 24th nationally.

When adjusted for inflation, Washington's $8.07/hour actually spends like $6.08. Less than 1978 minimum wage and actual spending powers (this is a surprise?).

That'd be about $243.20/wk for a full-timer. I'd guess that the average gas tank is still around 16 gallons (mine are both over 20, ouch). $64 per fill, or more than 26% of your gross income.

On a national level, these numbers are scarier...grossing $176.40/week for full time HONEST work, the minimum wage worker is spending over 36% of their gross income on gasoline.

Now, I will grant that most of us (me, friends, family, etc.) aren't in the minimum wage set - probably haven't been since our first high-school summer jobs (if then - remember how Dick's Drive In paid $5/hour back in '79? that was MONEY!).

We are fortunate enough not to have to make really hard decisions based on the price of fuel. I've changed some of my habits, and may not take a long drive when I might want to, but that is really the largest extent of the consequences for most of my circle.

But, a good percentage of those people all around us are dealing with these huge obstacles.

Even if we aren't at minimum, our dollars are effected in the same way. We just aren't faced with having to choose between food and gas to get to the job that provides the food.

I do not accept the idea that we are just getting closer to what those in Europe are already paying. They don't drive nearly as much as we do here - mostly because they don't have to. The public transportation systems in Europe are far advanced from anything we have here. And, they just don't have the distances to go either. Most countries in Europe are closer to the size of one of our Eastern Seaboard states...some are bigger, but most aren't. And there are those that live nearly their entire lives within a 50 square mile area. (I have cousins in Kansas that are like this too - never having seen the ocean except on TV, and content with that - but I digress).

This country has not become better, or stronger in the last 8 years. Just the opposite in fact. I'm not preaching politics here at all, it is a matter of simple economics. We are less better off than we were. Doesn't matter at this point who is responsible or not. What does matter is, who is going to fix it.

If the oil companies were showing flat profits over this same period, I'd have to say that it just is costing more to get gas to market.

HOWEVER, they are showing record record profits...more money, higher margins, huge, obscene profits. Companies need to make a profit to survive...I get that - I'm sure you do too. But this goes way beyond profit...it's into a dark, black place.

Someone needs to fix it, and soon.

Yesterday, I figured out that at about 20 mpg, it costs about $12 in gas for me to drive into downtown Seattle and back. That doesn't count parking (or driving around looking for parking), or any of the other little things that add to the cost of ownership.

Never, in all the years I've been driving, have I ever even considered what it cost to drive around town...I mean, I know, that in general, I'd fill up once a week. But in the day to day tripping down the road kinda stuff, never really thought of anything more than if I had enough gas in the tank to get there...

Ah...the times they are a changin'....

I think that I'll move closer to the beach. That way, I don't have to drive to go diving...it's a thought, right? :)

Happy days!

M&G