Oct. 8, 2012—these past years, Americans have been suffering the effects and aftermath from recession and war. People find it hard to afford the luxury they use to buy when the economy was still doing well. Actually, people find it even hard to get anything they want nowadays because the prices on everything have been changing so much.
Now, prices on everything, from necessities to luxury items are skyrocketing. Even prices on food changed, such as milk, which use to cost 1 to 2 dollars but now cost almost 4 dollars. It is ridiculous how much money everything at stores cost. However, no price on any item beats one particular item that every adult and student dread to get every week or less: gas.
Gas prices is one that fluctuates more than the weather outside, one day it is $3.69 and the next it could drop down to $3.50 or go up to $3.86. It’s a hit or miss when shopping for gas, what’s even more painful is the gas price constantly change every so often in a day. For example, in the morning it could cost $3.25 while in the afternoon the price could raise up to $3.65.
These gas prices are killing people’s pocket change or side money. It’s so hard to find a gas station that has cheap gas, if there’s such thing as cheap gas anymore. One Morningside student, Chris Eickholt, a commuter and soon to be married man, is also affected by the gas prices. Since he doesn’t even live on campus he had to travel a great deal to get to school. If gas prices continue to rise up and possibly rise to the point where they were four almost 5 dollars like last year, how will people such as Eickholt be able to survive let alone how will he save up enough money to have a wedding.
However, commuter students aren’t the only people affected by these expensive gas prices. Residents of the college also suffer from the gas prices especially when they are active in sports. Kelsey Nelson, a resident and golf player of Morningside College, also feels the same pain as Eickholt.
“It’s expensive for me during the Fall and Spring than in the Winter because I have golf,” said Nelson.
It is understandable since travelling for tournaments, as a player on the team is normal. Nevertheless, the distance and on top of trying to pay for the gas to get there can be a hassle. Life can be difficult when the places you can’t go to the places you need or want to go because you don’t have the gas for it.
Along with students, professors at the college do find the rising gas prices displeasing. Who could blame them, especially when there’s bills and children to take care of, such as college kids who depend on the parents to pay for their tuition.
Second to college kids are infants and toddlers, they need plenty of attention and day care services, which would require driving. There’s not really a winning situation for anyone because almost everyone uses gas.
With the exception of people that don’t qualify to drive or the people that live close to home or wherever they need to go. People like Elizabeth Sterling, a freshman at Morningside College, who walk to school frequently. “I don’t really have to pay for gas much, maybe once every month. So the prices don’t really affect me much.”
However, not everyone is lucky to hold out on gas for a month, many struggle to even pull off a week. According to Eickholt, he thought that not only gas was expensive, but also the prices would aggravate the people who have to purchase gas. “Gas prices should have a cap… like they should have a stopping point where the prices doesn’t go any higher,” suggested Eickholt, which isn’t disagreeable at all.
Too bad gas prices won’t return to the price of $2 anytime soon, guess everyone will have to put up with the current prices.