the prices we pay......

Back in the late 1970's the American public was appalled that gas prices had risen from 36 cents to 58 cents a gallon. Jimmy Carter was our President, and he was encouraging everyone to lower their thermoststs, drive less if we could help it, and learn to conserve wherever possible.
He even gave a speech in a Mr. Rogers-friendly sweater to press his point. We were told that the gas resources were running out, and we were only on limited time before the industry would become extinct.... just as the dinosaurs did, who created these earthen deposits in the first place, upon their demise.

All of a sudden it was no longer cool to drive a big gas guzzling car, and Toyota became the top selling car of the time. It was cheap (my first car cost $3,000.00.. one year used) and mileage was a whopping 26 city/ 36 highway. Such a deal! With $95.00 car payments a month, I could barely squeak by on my $1.65 an hour pay... but I had to have transportation. Back then, I also had my own apartment which was only $40.00 a week. Things were tight, but still manageable.

Last year when my son graduated from high school, I took him over to my computer and gave him a lesson in economics he never studied in school. We went to my quicken file and I pulled up reports where my money was spent throughout the year. Granted, I make more than $1.65 an hour now, but I also pay more for a mortgage.... which mysteriously raises each year with property tax hikes, both city and county. It was a real eye-opener, and "welcome to the real world" lesson for him. With the cost of fuel raising by the moment, utilities are no longer stable, and neither are the prices at the grocery store. Besides my mortgage, my personal grocery bill runs a close second to where my money is spent monthly.

Few things phase my son, but this did. I saw the raised eyebrows, open jaw, and look of slight panic as to how he was going to manage all this and college too. Well, the easy answer was that he never threatened ever that he was going to move out on his own (unlike me at his age), and being that he was the only child, he was entitled to having his parents purchase his car for him (all the other kids at school had parents who did). I told him to look out the back window and point out the money tree I could pick the dollars from. We did somehow manage to find him a vehicle, and pay for it outright.... which became his graduation/ birthday present (as they fell in the same week), but told him that insurance, gas, and incidentials were now his problem.

As far as college was concerned, he had every opportunity to go to school free. All it took was maintaining an 80% average in high school, and the state accepted you on the Hope Scholarship Program. Tuition, and in some cases books, are covered by this program.... but it was up to each individual to keep their averages up in order to be considered. He missed by two measley points, and now realizes the advantages he missed out on. Having an inate ability to want to do everything the opposite of advise given, he scouted out on his own the path he needed to take in order to achieve being accepted at a college. He was told that he needed to pick up a remedial math at a two year college, as he was still lacking in Algebra 3, then could transfer those credits to a state university when all things were lined up properly. If he maintained an 80% average the first year, he would then re-qualify for the Hope Scholarship program.

He worked hard all summer, even taking on extra shifts whenever possible; saved his money, and paid for his first semester of school. Am I proud of this achievement? You bet! Am I embarrassed that I could not afford it on my own for him? Not at all! I warned him a long time ago in elementary school that this day would come. He would need to pay attention in school, keep his grades up and the world would be a little easier for him due to the programs the state offers. He always poo-pooed me, and felt that he was part of the entitled set. Ah.... reality is like a cold glass of water to the face, and some people need to experience all that for themselves; regardless of the advice and warnings to the contrary. He was no exception.

Through all of this, he has taken on a new sense of maturity. He no longer sees that everything has to be handed to him, and he has grown a new respect for buying things for himself with the money he has earned. Because I love him dearly (who wouldn't.... he's a great kid!), I don't charge him any rent. I know he works hard, not only because I see it, but because he has taken on a second job to suppliment the hours they cut him out of on the first job. Every day this week he has come home from either work or school dragging, but never complaining. He continues to save his money, because being 19, his insurance rates would feed a small third world country. He also has to pay for his own cell phone bill, personal groceries, and gas.

When I think back to what I had to pay to live on my own at that age, I have nothing but empathy for the generation behind me. The world we know today is no doubt expensive and harder to keep up with. Perhaps the minimum wage has jumped up a little, but even then it is not nearly enough to live above the poverty line. Vendors who supply the groceries to stores, or any other goods to the public have taken an extra slice of our money by charging a fuel tax on transportation. With the price of gas that fluxuates by the moment, the cost of living is almost out of hand.... and if you think it will ever go down, I suggest you start looking for the money tree in your back yard. In all my lifetime, prices have NEVER gone down. They only go up.... it's the price we pay for living in our "real world".