It’s even more important to support our local businesses right now, due to the recent and ongoing gas shortage and price increases. I’ve been reading a lot of articles, talking to business owners and the need is glaringly apparent. Many of our local business owners depend a great deal on the tourism in our beautiful mountains but because of the rising costs of travel, they are being heavily affected by the drop in visitors to our area.

Who is being affected? Who isn’t affected is more of the question. You-pick farms have been hit hard because a lot of people from neighboring states come to Hendersonville to visit the apple orchards this time of year to pick their own apples. But these travelers have heard about the gas shortage in the mountains and are afraid to come up here, run out of gas and be stranded. Volunteer organizations such as Meals on Wheels are feeling the effects because their volunteers are, by necessity, having to conserve their fuel. Of course local attractions, hotels, bed and breakfasts are being touched by the crunch as well. It all has the trickling down effect and hurts all of them and in turn, it touches us, as consumers and neighbors as well.

So, what to do about it? Obviously, each of us has to think seriously about where we go and how to best use our vehicles to get from point A to B to C and back again. And still, we need our weekend diversions and want to do some fun things with our families. And that can still be done. We just need to do it closer to home. As is so often the case, us locals tend to always think the grass is greener somewhere else and don’t actually take advantage of those fun things to do in our own backyard. But let’s face it, let’s celebrate it: we live in one beautiful area here in the mountains of western North Carolina and there is always something to do, no matter the season. Hiking trails abound, apples are ready to be picked and enjoyed, corn mazes are scattered around the region, fall festivals are being held by our schools, local events are happening everywhere and they’re all within a reasonable distance and a great deal are free or don’t cost that much. The more we each do locally, the more we all benefit!

I don’t know about you, but I’m flabberGASted by this whole gas situation. Yesterday and last night, almost all the gas stations in Asheville and the surrounding areas were out of gas, all grades. They started the newscast with the headline, “If you don’t have gas tonight, good luck getting to work in the morning.” Both my husband and I were almost to empty in our tanks. He was supposed to take his mother to the airport later this morning, so he called her and suggested she call a taxi company because he wouldn’t be able to get to work and then also get her back and forth to the airport on what little gas he had left in his tank. I emailed clients to reschedule meetings.

Joe called moments after he left for work and told me there was gas at the station just down the road, so after the kids got on the school buses, my youngest and I drove down to get gas. All they had is regular grade, which is fine with me, but the maximum you could get was $20. One man at another pump was very angry and was quite obvious and well, obnoxious, about his feelings. What good that was supposed to do, I don’t know. But I guess a great number of people were reacting in that same way yesterday as the stations that did have gas had to have police there to help with the situation.

What really gets to me is that last night everyone was in a total panic. Surely, someone knew that there would be deliveries to the pumps this morning so why couldn’t they have reported that and told everyone that they would be able to get at least some gas today? But they didn’t do that. Instead, they created major sense of anxiety when there was no need. I understand that this is not a laughing matter, but why make it worse than it needs to be by not reporting the answers people so desperately need?

6pm-Sept. 12, 2008

The Rising Cost of……

EVERYTHING! Where will it end? How long can it continue and the average household survive? This current gas crisis is just plain scary. Most stations are completely out of gas and those few that do have it, only have premium and that’s running over $4.75/gallon. How will businesses stay open? How can employees get back and forth to work when they can’t buy gas? How can they afford to put almost $5.00 per gallon gas in their cars when they’re only making $7.00/hour? But they have to work in order to eat and pay rent and bills. Oh, now they have to make a choice. Should they eat or put gas in their car so they can get to work? What sort of choice is that for someone to have to make?

From what I’m reading, this situation could last several days or a couple weeks. The only positive way I can look at this is that maybe it will make us all really take notice of our driving habits and make some changes. Not just changes during the crisis but changes that we will really take to heart and integrate into our everyday lives for the long term. Joe and I have been very thoughtful about only making trips out for absolutely necessary things (ie: groceries, medication for the children, etc). We’ve also been planning out the week ahead and making changes to our schedules so that what running needs to be done encompasses many errands at one time, in a logical circle. We had already been doing that quite a bit with the already insane gas prices, but now we’re becoming even more aware. It’s amazing how much unnecessary we (and I believe our whole nation) do on a daily basis simply because we’ve been accustomed to just hopping in our cars and going whenever we feel we need to. It’s time to slow down. You know how they say ‘sometimes you need to hit rock bottom before you realize that it’s time to make a change’? Well, I personally think that we’re as close to rock bottom as I want to get. I’m ready to make some serious changes, no matter how uncomfortable they may be at times. How about you?