Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Ramifications


Good people. If you've been here before, you know what is at the top of my "mad list"

GAS PRICES.

Deez prices are so high and I'm mad as hell. I was listening to Michael Baisden this afternoon and some of the family was venting about what high gas prices would lead to.

Ramifications

People were calling in with all kinds of sad stories and what choices they would have or not have if the prices continued the way they are.

Some folks are pumping and driving... I saw one such case on my very own HBCU networking site... I still can't believe she actually posted that...
One truck driver said their fuel is already above $5/gallon and the company was having to cut back. He's a single dad with no options without a job. He said crime DOES pay and that's how he was going to make ends meet.
Some folks calling up Ray Ray n them to get in on the next drug deal to make some extra cash.
People around my parts have actually started riding a bicycle for short errands.

All I could do was shake my head in shame because if we don't see the end of the tunnel and SOON, Imma be right up there with the rest of the folks!

But on the real folks, my mom had an undetected stroke two years ago in her frontal lobe. This affects her personality and behavior. She also has Akinetic Parkinson's which affects her movement. What this means for me is that she must have a sitter during the day while I go to work because she either freezes in one spot for a loooong time unable to move or she will make an irrational decision that will affect her safety. Her sitter was hired to get her bathed, dressed and OUT of the house because all my mom would do is lay in the bed all day long and get bed sores. She gets a disability check. Our great gubment graciously sends $1600 a month to my mom. The retirement check doesn't cover the rest either. Her sitters for the weekends and weekdays easily cost $2000. Remember, they are there to get her out of the house. My mom loves to get out of the house. Her sitters have told me about times when she would just want to ride through different neighborhoods for 30-40 minutes. That and she LOVES going to SONIC erryday to get a Strawberry slush with Cherries. She's still an intellectual person underneath the medical problems. She likes seeing what's in our community asking a bunch of trivia questions about what she's seen. It breaks my HEART to have to tell her that she simply CANNOT go out like she used to because we can't afford the gas for her car and mine. U finished the math problem from earlier right?? U figured out it takes my check and hers to keep this household afloat... above and beyond the sitters and gas, we still gotta eat and stay cool too...

It is simply not FAIR!! And THOSE people will not do anything about it because it does not affect them!! I wonder, how far will some people have to go just to LIVE and how many people have NO OPTIONS and will resort to WHATEVER so they can hold their head up and say they took care of their families NO MATTER WHAT??

Thanks for letting me vent! Until next time... Say a prayer for our nation. We need it...

7 comments:

Beautifully.Conjured.Up said...

Thank you for the comment, and I like your site as well. You have a HBCU networking site? Please share...being an alumna of a HBCU, I'm always supporting that :)

12kyle said...

@ Dione
I FEEL you. Not only are the gas prices unreal but it's virtually eliminating the discretionary income of the middle class (like us). We all try to cut corners but what happens when there are no more to cut???

Sorry to hear about your moms. I know that has to be tough to deal with. Keep ya head up. And pray.

Dione said...

@Beautifully.Conjured.Up
Thanks for dropping by! I always appreciate the chance to speak with anotha sista! I put the HBCU badge for my school's networking site up. I was addicted to the site for a minute but after a few days of rehab, I'm able to function again!

@12kyle
As usual, it's always great to hear from ya! It is tough to deal with because it's like having a 63 year old child.(Yeah, my mom's still in the young side) She always had a pretty nice sized bank account but we have quickly depleted that due to inflation and the rest of the economy problems...

I found a magazine picture I thought you might appreciate. I'll email it to ya!!

12kyle said...

Do that!

Escapism said...

Hey don't feel alone gas prices out here in compton cali is 4.75. We are damn near the 5.00 spot. Politicians say we will be using corn oil soon for fuel. But here's a rising question for ya. What are we going to do when that runs short, since that's one of our main food sources? Corn. America won't be happy until all of the poor americans are dirt broke. That's when they will start treating everyone like katrina victims.
And don't worry baby, as long as your doing right by your mom, God will always have his arms around you. Im praying for you.

All-Mi-T [Thought Crime] Rawdawgbuffalo said...

we really just catching up to the rest of the world, we still 6$ less than all else a gallon (10$ in europe)

Dione said...

@writers dream
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to keep doing the best I can to keep my mom happy. She deserves it...

@torrance stephens bka all-mi-t
Jeez. Gas is this high and we're still behind the rest of the world?? It is really sad that we are no longer in the position to be the world's SUPERPOWER...