Shorty said:

The point is not that we split the cost -the point is that 40 dollars is nothing to be crying about.

magnificentsynthesizer said:

A ceasefire on the bitching would be nice. You've got nothing to be complaining about. Gas is cheap as shit down there, and so is food.

As for my being a college student, perhaps I need to clarify that a bit. I'm a Canadian college student. That's right, I live in a country where more than just the rich can educate themselves. Most of my family is just barely above lower-class, my mother's on disability, my sister's unemployed, and I and the friend we were with are on minimum wage. Don't start assuming I'm some rich kid coming in here commenting on how cheap the local champagne and caviar is, if that's your problem.

Uhope said:

There was just a bad motorcycle accident in town here last night. The guy was driving way too fast and ended up losing control and scraping up against the cement median barrier as he was skidding to a stop. The guy is in critical condition, fortunately, only because he was wearing his helmet. Otherwise, he could have easily left his brain all over U.S. Highway 52.

I guess the message is be careful. Not only the riders, but the drivers of other vehicles, too. Seems like there's a lot more cycles out there than there used to be.

thekidsgirl said:

All I know is that we paid almost half for gas down there what we would be at home -prices we've not seen for years.

Food too, was cheaper than I expected given reports being broadcast on American news channels up here about skyrocketing food prices. Of the money we'd alloted for food budget before we crossed the border, nearly half of it was still in our pockets when we went home.

meow85 said:

Food is a bit cheaper when you don't have to import it.

Prices -- indeed, most everything -- often comes down to a matter of perspective. What you can bear, what you are used to.

While my son and I are struggling, dealing with my unemployment, rent increasing by $100 in July and all-around higher prices, I suppose I could go to a less fortunate country and make out like a mogul because things are "cheaper" than in the U.S. and wonder why some complain about their so-called high prices. Not comparing Canada and U.S. in this instance, but I hope you grasp my meaning.

We often hear of people living on only a dollar a day or something like that. Well, I couldn't live HERE for that price. It's obviously possible elsewhere.

Meow, it's wonderful that you can do without a car. You are young, childless, have two strong legs and obviously are in a better situation (transport-wise) than many in the U.S. I fully agree that it would be great if the U.S. could reduce it's dependence on gasoline. How neat it would be to be able to get around on a Vespa, like in Italy or France? But except for those who actually live in large cities, it wouldn't be feasible. America is just not laid out like that. And for the time being, having one's fuel bill be higher than one's grocery bill can be staggering.

Maybe just perhaps a little empathy to those who ARE struggling in their situation would be kinder.

I never think it's cool to hear, "well, I'm doing it. why can't they?" All circumstances are different.

TMPletz said:

I understand that in theory, but where I live local food is easy to find and plentiful. Contrary to popular belief, Canada's not entirely a frozen wasteland.

Uhope said:

I do live in a city that's got a wonderful public transit system, but I've only been doing so for 2 months. The city I lived in before was pathetic in terms of this public service -busses coming maybe once an hour on weekdays, and that's if the drivers bothered to show up. But plenty of people still functioned car-free, including people with kids.

I also know that, for a variety of reasons, a lot of people cannot go without a vehicle, whether it be a personal or a work necessity. But I've travelled a lot throughout North America. Everytime I'm in a city of any decent size, I can't get over the sheer numbers who head for their cars even just for a short trip. A lot of people could easily afford to cut back on their vehicle use. So it takes a little better planning for the day -you'd think the chance to save money, if not the environment and their health, would be incentive enough for people to bust out their bike helmets or running shoes.

America is a very large country that is not made up entirely of decent sized cities with decent public transport. In fact, what most cities try to pass off as public transport is laughable...especially compared to most other countries.

When I lived in Rabat, Morocco I had no need for a car at all but when I went back home to my "decent sized" city in Massachusetts for Christmas or back to my college, which was also located in a "decent sized" city, a car was a necessity.
I had similar experiences when visiting Paris and while living in the Caribbean.

Where I'm living now, things are very spread out and the public transportation system is very unreliable. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a bus and forget about any kind of subway system. I'm not living in any backwater place either, I'm living in the capital city of the state.

In my ideal life I would never need a car...that's what I loved about living in New York City so much....but right now the majority of America is not set up that way. Hopefully that will change in time.

Anyway, I don't think this has much to do with the topic of the thread but whatevs.

Why are you many of guys saying that Canada has cheaper prices than the US? We don't.

"a less fortunate country".

We import all our food.


But I really don't understand the point of this thread.

JustErin said:

Nowhere did I imply that Canada is a less fortunate country.

IMO, it is more fortunate in a lot of ways -- but please read my statement again for meaning.

Uhope said:

Its also fair to note that the UK fits inside of California.


The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, (96,000 - 93,280 - 82,750 sq. mi. in land area.)

The total area of California is 158,706 sq mi (411,048 sq km)

So, when you consider this, ones sees the complications of billions of billions of dollars to create a plausible public transportation system. ( and theoretically we haven't even considered the other 49 states.)

I think in these conversations you would have to view states as individual countries to even begin to compare. Europe itself fits into less then half of the US.

Didn't we just have a thread exactly like this about a month ago?

Meow, since you didn't pay attention then, lemme sum it up for ya-

The price of gasoline doubling or tripling in a relatively short span of time has grave effects across the board. A trio of spendthrift college students aside, everyone who isn't fortunate enough to live in a major urban center has to reconfigure their budgets to take into account the double or triple bills for commuting to work, heating your home, mowing your lawn, or paying extra for services that are also affected like taxicabs, delivery services, etc, etc.

Are we too dependant on oil? Absolutely, and hopefully this is a wakeup call for us. Already people have abandoned those hefty SUV's and are gravitating to smaller cars. Hummers and Navigators are rusting on car lots, while there's a three month wait for a Toyota Prius.

Why do we whine about it? Because it hurts. I don't know what kind of car you could possibly fill up with less than $40...but for most of us its alot more than that.

Why does it hurt? Because our pockets are already strained. Do you get 30-or-40% of your income taxed out of your hands before your paycheck is issued? Do you pay $100, $150 or $200 A WEEK for healthcare coverage? Do you pay $900/month to fund your local school budget? Do you get taxed nearly 9% for groceries, clothing, CDs, and everything else you could possibly buy in a shopping mall?

I'm sure that you're also familiar with the impact of higher fuel costs on the prices for basic goods across the board. When THEY pay more for raw materials and transportation, we end up paying more for those jeans, sneakers, lawn chairs, shampoo bottles or whatever.

It's not about the $70 or so extra a week...it's about the $70 + the higher cost of food + the higher cost to heat your home & all those other higher costs that hurts when there's so many other bills to pay.

meow85 said:

i just got my license this year! i waited until i was 30 years old to drive. and i live in a country area, and i got my license only when i had to, because i have to drive my son to school. we can't walk, too far away and dangerous, we have no bus system here. so i have to drive! and my husband has to drive to work, no bus, and he works odd hours.

meow85 said:

More power to you! America, too, is full of opportunity as well for those who aren't rich and want to educate themselves. It's not like we all go to Harvard. I was a poor kid who won an academic scholarship, paying my way to a state university. If it weren't for that, our local community college would've been just fine with me at a quarter the price and a job. And if I couldn't afford that, there's always the local library if your local government wasn't stupid enough to cut out its service to the community because of recent budget cuts.

"See, the sad thing about a guy like you is in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're gonna come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: One, don't do that, and Two, you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a fuckin' education you coulda got for a dolla' fifty in late charges at the public library" (Good Will Hunting).
[Edited 8/21/08 22:42pm]

I don't think it's the price of gas that is at the core of why people are complaining. I think that it's what people have to give up because they have to pay for gas. Sometimes I genuinely feel sorry for people, like a father who has to decide whether to buy gas to get to his job or feed his family, but to those that own Lexus' and big Ford pick-up trucks, etc., it's more about kvetching that you can't cram that 4th Frappucino (and I still think that's a Val name) down your throat. And you know what I say to people who complain about not having conveniences? This:

meow85 said:

walk 15, 20, 30 miles for groceries? and don't forget we gotta carry 50 - 100 (or more) dollars of groceries back with us too. Come on kids...I know it's heavy and I know your only 4 & 19 months but it's only another 10 miles...it won't kill you.
please.

meow85 said:

Listen, I drive a small car...they don't get much smaller than what I drive..and it costs me about 40 bucks to fill it once a week. That's 160 dollars a month. If you don't think 160 dollars a month impacts a family of 4...you're crazy. If I had more than 2 children I would need a larger vehicle, and gas would then cost me approx. 70 dollars per fill up, and I'd probably have to fill up every 5 or 6 days so it would easily but 280 dollars a month if not 350. The cost has doubled almost tripled for us and it's effecting the cost of everything and impacting our lives greatly, not just "I gotta give up my frappacino" bullshit. So please give the working families of the USA a break and lay off us!

PurpleJedi said:

Exactly.

And as you said, this IS a wake-up call for many people.

"The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced today that Americans took more than 2.6 billion trips on public transportation in the first three months of 2008. This is almost 88 million more trips than last year for the same time period." http://www.apta.com/media...report.cfm

"For the first four months of this year, truck and SUV sales are down a collective 24.8 percent. SUV sales plummeted 32.8 percent while pickups dipped 19.9 percent, he says." http://www.cnn.com/2008/L...index.html

We are beginning as a country to take some baby steps. And yes, much more can and needs to be done. But when your budget changes this drastically in such a short period of time, it hurts.

Shorty said:

I live in Canada, drive a fuel efficient vehicle, have one child (that I support and raise on my own) work full time and my work is out of town (in an area that I can not afford to live in).

Every little dollar counts and even $40 more hurts someone like me. People from this country have it no different than in the US.

And even more importantly, Canadians whine and bitch and complain just as much as Americans do. I hear it all the time. I do it as well.

Again, I really fail to see the point of this thread...other than to belittle Americans.

meow85 said:

Why are you bitchin about us bitchin? If you lived here and saw how it was affecting us then you'd understand, but you don't so shut it and mind yo biz!

CarrieLee said:

It's the same here!!

JustErin said:

I wasn't tryna say canadians have it any better. Your right, the thread was aimed at americans to belittle americans hence the pissed off americans in response
hey...where's the freakin' red hair pic! I wanna see!

CarrieLee said:

ahhh she's 23, I thought I knew everything at 23 too.

Shorty said:

I saw that too after the fact.

Even when I thought I knew it all I was corrected by my wiser elders

Shorty said:

And who am I? The daughter of royalty? I get the distinct impression people think I'm some moneyed brat coming in here talking down to the pleebs.

Shorty said:

You know what...I'll be honest. The point was to belittle Americans. Because it's such a stupid thing to be complaining about. Your economy's gone to hell, but you've still got it better than 95% of the world, and gas has been cheaper down below the 49th than it has above it for years, and still is. You're for now still one of the world's superpowers, you've got the resources to grow all your own food, (you don't, but that's another thread. You can, is the point) and people come from all over the world to play tourist or even to move there. Yeah, America's got some problems, but you'd be hard put to say as a nation you're all that hard done by.

Shorty said:

Oh God, I don't think I know everything!


I just think you've got more important things to be focusing your energy on.

meow85 said:

But why are you singling them out when Canadians bitch just as much? Especially when we are also not that hard done by as a nation??

JustErin said:

Finally someone calls the bullshit. Been wondering how long it would take.