I can’t believe gas is over $3 a gallon again.  This really sucks.  You watch - we’ll probably be paying $4 a gallon by the end of the year.  We were planning to drive to Disney World this summer.  The kids have yet to see Finding Nemo - The Musical, which is playing at Animal Kingdom.  I was going to get the Suburban tuned up, and the kids were already picking out the DVDs they would watch on the way down.  My son also wanted to try out the new Road Rage video game I bought for his PSP (Thank God for DVDs and PSPs – I don’t know how our parents managed on these road trips without them).  We were going to have some real quality time together as a family.  Why isn't someone doing something about these gas prices?  With my 30 mile drive to the office everyday, I’m spending over $80 a week to fill up the Suburban.  And, with all the soccer practices and piano lessons, my wife’s minivan isn’t much cheaper.  I know one thing: someone’s making a lot of money off of us.  The oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that no one in Washington is doing anything to help.  We all know that Bush and Cheney are buddies with the oil companies.  And all I hear from Congress is how they want us to drive smaller cars or pay extra to drive a hybrid.  Have you seen one of those hybrids?  There is no way we can carry all of our stuff in a car like that.

I read somewhere that people in Saudi Arabia and Iran pay less than a dollar for a gallon of gas.  Can you believe that?  They’ve obviously found a way to keep their gas cheap.  That used to be us, when we weren’t afraid to drill for our own oil.  Even the Chinese pay less than we do.  It’s no wonder we’re losing all of our jobs to the Chinese.  I think the politicians just want us to be like Europe.  What a joke.  I saw this article in the Wall Street Journal last week about all the crazy Europeans who ride their bikes to work.  Can you imagine how silly I would look if I showed up at work with a bike helmet on.  Everyone knows the Europeans work less than we do.  I’d like to see them try to live my life on a bike.  It’s bad enough that I have wait in the traffic jam in front of my kids’ school every morning.  Can you imagine how late I would be if I biked my kids to school?  I’m not even sure my kids could ride the ten blocks to school.

One country, I forget which one, is even building a parking garage big enough for 10,000 bikes.  What a bunch of fools.  If they would just build more roads, they wouldn’t need so much space for bikes.  Trying to be like Europe is a big mistake.  It’s bad enough that my taxes have to pay for all the trains and buses that no one uses, and that we have to give up part of the road for bike lanes.  If you listen to the treehuggers, we’re all supposed to leave our cars at home and ride the bus to work.  All of a sudden, the world’s getting warmer and we’re to blame.  How come we’re the only ones who are supposed to be making sacrifices?  I don’t see Al Gore taking the bus.

I guess I shouldn’t get too worked up.  Last time gas prices got this high, everyone got all worried and started buying hybrids.  And then prices dropped again and everything was fine (and all those do-gooders were stuck with those puny cars!!).  Maybe we’ll take that trip to Disney World after all.  What’s the point in making my family suffer over a few dollars anyway?

Photo Credit: Eric Risberg/AP