Gasoline

"The price of gasoline hit an all-time average high in California of $4.6140 a gallon Saturday, fueled by a reduced supply and a volatile market."

"The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded across California was 47 cents more than a week ago, according to the AAA report."

While I've actually seen a few wild prices in isolated areas reaching as high as $5.99.99, the average is still pretty high. Am I a bad person for shaking my head at outraged people and thinking... "Why didn't you take the warnings and the upward trends we've seen for years seriously?"

I understand the price of electric or hybrid cars is high right now, so the folks who are fuming at the pump... many of them could rightly say they can't really afford anything else. (Though the latest Nissan Leaf lease prices are only $219/mo and Volts can be had for not much more.) But I see a lot of big SUV drivers, 4X4 drivers (which in most of SoCal is just plain unnecessary) and, more importantly, I see people driving in very uneconomical ways. Hot rodding around and jack rabbiting from stops, driving upwards of 80+ miles per hour on freeways... I wonder if those are a big majority of the "fuming motorists paying $5 or more per gallon in some locations" as the Chron.com article I'm quoting from says.

It's hard for me to have too much sympathy for the guy crying at the pump with his Hummer or Expedition. And when I see people slingshot past me from a stop or fly past me on the freeway, I think they must just have money to burn, literally. Even the guy in the Prius doing over 80 just doesn't get it. And apparently doesn't care.