Or "What I've learned about Hot Air."
Yesterday, Kyle pointed out an article regarding HRC's attempts to equate herself with the common man. This time it was by buying a man a tank of gas. You can read a very brief article relating to it
here, and if you really want more,
Google is pretty handy.
Now for my beef. Am I seriously the only one here with a brain? Or at least the only one who occasionally is able to apply it toward everyday life skills sort of problems?
Ok, I know that I exaggerate. Kyle is capable of utilizing his mental capacity as well, and I feel confident in my parents ability to think as well. But like it says above, I am a hyperbole abuser. Deal with it.
For my point. Back in 2004 my sister was rudely run into, while driving my original car, by a woman on a cell phone. Needless to say, my car was total loss. So I needed a new vehicle. Unfortunately the exceedingly generous $830 condolence check the insurance company cut me had little ability to replace my car. Luckily, my cousin had just moved his family into a smaller city house, and no longer had any room for he and his wife's 3rd vehicle. They decided to get rid of one, and knowing that I was in need I was given his 1994 Ford Explorer.
This was during the "glory" days of gasoline in 2004. You remember. $1.70 a gallon. That seems like a happy memory now. Regardless, having purchased gas in my own driving lifetime for less than $1.00, I felt these prices were outrageous, and I was concerned that the fuel efficiency of my new vehicle was a significant drawback. But I accepted the car, and continue to drive it because, poor student from lower middle class background that I am, I don't have a couple grand lying around with which to purchase a new-used car.
In any case, I was only 19 at the time, yet I still recognized and was concerned by my own vehicles fuel efficiency, and the rising cost of petrol. 19!
19! At what age does common sense kick in for regular folks anyway? When does it happen? Understanding things like fuel efficiency, elementary economic theory (supply and demand), and how to cook a meal for yourself should be common knowledge. These should be mandatory (I HATE that word) requirements for high school graduation.
Oh Congratulations, you can do Algebra II and read at an 8th grade level, but neither do you understand that driving a giant MANpensation(tm) truck with a V12 engine and a 1 ton frame is going to be a bit expensive because of its woeful fuel inefficiency, nor can you cook your own spaghetti.
I think a better high school graduation requirement would be this:
1) Be able to plot a chart relating fuel efficiency to engine size (here's a hint, if MPGs are on the y-axis and engine size on the x-axis, the trend line slopes down to the right)
2) Be able to show that because demand for goods such as gasoline is inelastic, producers lack incentives to lower the price
3) Be able to make a delicious breakfast of waffles, followed by a lunch of grilled cheese with tomato soup, and finishing with a dinner of pasta in a roux based pseudo-alfredo sauce. (the ability to make a
roux is utterly indespensible knowledge)
Labels: Go Team America w00t
