Gas prices

Now, I'm mad. It cost me $35.00 to fill my gas tank the other day, and it will cost even more the next time. And, I drive what my son-in-law calls a granny car - a sedan.

It doesn't help my mood any when I see some mindless bubblehead on television braying about how much more expensive gas is in the European countries. Excuse me, are you talking about those itty bitty countries where it takes less than a day to get from one end to the other by car? Those teeny weeny countries with all those wonderful buses and trains that take people from town to town, and the undergrounds and buses and cabs that get you where you want to go in the cities?

Are they referring to those countries, some of which are about the size of Arkansas, where people don't have to own cars unless they want to?

In my very small town, we have a mass transit system consisting of two cutesy trolley-style buses that will take you all over town if you don't mind waiting at least an hour between rides. In Britain, the longest wait we had for a bus was 15 minutes.

We also have buses that will bring commuters to their workplaces, if they live 20 or 20 miles from here, but they only deposit them at their jobs and straight home that afternoon, leaving them at the tender mercies of the city transit "system".

I would love to be able to do without a car. But, as it is now, I would have to rely on friends and relatives in order to go anywhere, or develop the patience to wait on the bus. And, patience just isn't going to happen.