<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are times when the human race makes me shake my head in wonder.\u00a0 There are multiple ways that we can make the world a better place, yet as soon as something \u2018unusual\u2019 happens (for lack of a better word), many people pull the universe into one small unit:\u00a0 themselves.\u00a0 If one considers all the ways humans display their less noble side (I will let you construct your own list here), the one that gets my goat every time is simply what I call \u2018the world spins around me syndrome\u2019.\u00a0 When the going gets tough, the not so tough grab everything they can to make sure they won\u2019t be left without.\u00a0 Let us think about how practical this course of action really is.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The latest example arrived on May 7, 2021 when hackers shut down a major oil pipeline that services much of the southern and eastern coasts of the United States.\u00a0 Please note this was NOT a shortage of oil related products, just an interruption in the flow of this product from the Gulf region to these population centers.\u00a0 How did some people respond?\u00a0 Many gathered as many gas cans as possible to make sure THEY would have enough gas for . . . how long?\u00a0 For what?\u00a0 I saw a video of a couple in Alabama filling so many five gallon gas containers they had to lay them on their sides to fit them into the back of their SUV.\u00a0 Is this even a good idea?\u00a0 A few days later, the news feeds were showing the burned out hulk of an SUV that caught fire with (luckily?) only two five gallon gas containers on board.\u00a0 People were so consumed with hoarding gas, there were warnings issued that one should not store gas in plastic bags! Think about it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Analysts pointed out \u2018normal consumption\u2019 of fuel would have not have caused a shortage if some people had not gotten into panic (buy now!) mode.\u00a0 Once people panic, fear of being left out of the \u2018buy now\u2019 chain spreads faster than the CORONA virus.\u00a0 The headlines blared things like, \u201c65 percent of the gas stations in Atlanta ran out of gas!\u201d\u00a0 This type of \u2018Breaking News\u2019 reporting surely added gas to the fire (yes, pun very much intended).\u00a0 In light of how little people travelled in the last year (well, some people travelled regardless, but that is another story), where were all of these panicky people planning on going with their hoarded gas?\u00a0 Think about it!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As the COVID 19 numbers began to soar and the \u2018P\u2019 word (pandemic) was just beginning to be used to describe where we were headed, a different form of panic buying struck.\u00a0 Hand gel, rubbing alcohol, toilet paper, paper towel, facial tissue, and a host of other cleaning products disappeared from store shelves at an alarming rate.\u00a0 Knowing that some form of disinfecting spray would be needed around WOAS-FM if we were to remain on the air, I went in search of one can of Lysol.\u00a0 As I scanned the shelf at a local discount store, a woman with a cart piled higher than her head with all of the above mentioned products gleefully informed me, \u201cThey don\u2019t have any more hand gel left.\u201d\u00a0 Eyeing the literal PILE of hand gel containers in her cart, I held up my one can of Lysol and told her, \u201cThat is okay, I am not looking for hand gel.\u00a0 This is all I need.\u201d\u00a0 What I wanted to say was, \u201cLady, are you planning on bathing in that stuff and then mummifying yourself in TP?\u201d\u00a0 It is not my style to confront clueless people.\u00a0 The clueless ones are the people so tuned into their own orbit they wouldn\u2019t understand what I was saying anyway.\u00a0 Think about it!\u00a0 When the manufacturing and supply chains caught up and filled the void created by the hoarders, there was certainly enough of these products for EVERYBODY.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the saddest examples of this type of \u2018me-ism\u2019 came out of the tragic 9-11 terrorist attack.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t think of a way to contribute anything helpful on WOAS-FM that day, so I put some soothing music on and headed home.\u00a0 To help clear my head, I took the long way home down River Street and along Lakeshore Road.\u00a0 As I turned off Parker Avenue, I was amazed to see two lines of cars stretching out of the Holiday Gas station for a couple of blocks in both directions.\u00a0 The same scene was being repeated at the Citco station on the other end of the main street.\u00a0 I said to myself, \u201cOkay, if this is the start of an actual national emergency, how long will one tank of gas last?\u00a0 How much fuel are people burning as their cars idle in line for twenty or thirty minutes?\u201d\u00a0 Mentally, I waved it off as people acting strangely because, like me, they could not process what had just happened.\u00a0 The next day I got a clearer picture of why cars were lining up for gas.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During a discussion about what I had witnessed the night before, the person I was talking with nodded as I expressed my confusion about what I described but then added, \u201dYeah, it was even worse in Baraga.\u201d\u00a0 They explained further:\u00a0 they h\u00a0 ad taken all their empty gas cans and driven to the cheapest gas available in the U.P. (the station on US 41 just outside of Baraga). \u00a0 \u201cYou drove all the way to Baraga to buy a bunch of gas because it was cheaper there?\u201d I asked.\u00a0 \u201cHow much did it cost you to drive there and back and what will you do once you have emptied all your gas cans?\u00a0 If this does become a national emergency, how long would twenty or forty gallons of gas last anyway?\u201d\u00a0 Think about it!\u00a0 I can understand truckers, emergency vehicles, ambulances, and other people who could not function without gas stocking up.\u00a0 The rest of us, not so much.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The OPEC oil embargo of 1973 was a little different.\u00a0 First of all, we had a pretty good idea it was coming.\u00a0 Secondly, Americans had been ignoring predictions for years.\u00a0 Our artificially low fuel prices (when compared to the rest of the world) were going to come to a screeching halt sooner or later.\u00a0 It turned out to be sooner.\u00a0 I was attending Northern Michigan University in Marquette when the price of gas jumped from $.25 to over $.70 per gallon.\u00a0 There was some general grumbling but I do not recall exactly what started the run on gas stations.\u00a0 Sure enough, it wasn\u2019t long before people were lined up at gas stations just like after 9-11 and May 7, 2021.\u00a0 The end result was predictable:\u00a0 panic buying resulted in gas stations running out of gas causing consumers to lose their patience.\u00a0 Call me a stubborn Finlander, but I waited until things settled down and avoided lining up to gas up.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When some stations began limiting the number of gallons people could buy (to stretch the supply), the grumbling turned to outrage.\u00a0 It soon became apparent the problem was going to be with us for a while so the government stepped in (gasp!) to ration fuel supplies.\u00a0 In Michigan, license plate numbers ending in an odd number could buy gas on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while those ending in an even number could buy gas on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.\u00a0 It was a shock to those of us too young to remember rationing during World War II, but to me, it also made infinite sense.\u00a0 What did not make sense was the statement released by the U.S. Oil companies which said (more or less), \u201cThis is a temporary situation and we guarantee that the price of gas will not stay at $.70 per gallon.\u201d\u00a0 They were absolutely right:\u00a0 it went even higher.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The first time we paid $1.00 a gallon for gas in Ontonagon County was July 14, 1979.\u00a0 This is etched into my brain because some of our friends who attended our wedding in Mass City commented on this fact.\u00a0 In the past 42 years, the price has fluctuated and everytime someone in the industry hiccups, the price climbs.\u00a0 There has only been one occasion when the price dropped below $1.00 a gallon in Ontonagon County, but it only lasted a few days.\u00a0 Once the panic buying set off by the OPEC oil embargo was done, the supplies rebounded and eventually the gas buying public got used to the higher prices.\u00a0 Some went so far to say they were fine with paying more as long as the rationing went away.\u00a0 While we groused about gas costing $2.00 a gallon, countries in Europe who had been paying two or three times that amount for years were saying, \u201cIt is about time.\u201d \u00a0 Think about it!\u00a0 Did any of those people lining up (and thereby causing the shortages) stop driving or at least try to limit the number of miles they put on in a week?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As a youngster, getting a shot was not my idea of fun.\u00a0 One of my pre-Kindergarten visits for a check up and my final \u2018school shots\u2019 ended with me hiding behind my mother\u2019s chair in the exam room.\u00a0 Perhaps I thought I could bargain my way out of getting it.\u00a0 The doctor chuckled when mom finally talked me out of the corner, and after poking me, he did say, \u201cSee, that wasn\u2019t so bad, was it?\u201d\u00a0 Getting our yearly TB tests for school became a macho thing.\u00a0 We would line up in the hall outside the Whitman School nurses office waiting for our turn while putting on a brave face.\u00a0 We actually rejoiced in sixth grade when we were marched to the high school to get our last polio vaccination.\u00a0 The giddy mood was spurred by the knowledge that we would be getting an oral vaccine.\u00a0 When the doses were administered via a sugar cube, we even kidded each other about what else might be in those pink hued cubes.\u00a0 Someone suggested LSD, but not because we seriously thought we were being drugged.\u00a0 LSD was just something new and a big news story at the time.\u00a0 Did we understand exactly what Polio was even all about?\u00a0 It was years later that I learned how common it was.\u00a0 My older brother had a mild case of it but it was never mentioned around home.\u00a0 Think about it!\u00a0 Polio was bad but it wasn\u2019t the killer that COVID 19 became.\u00a0 No one blinked at taking the vaccine designed to keep us safe.\u00a0 There were probably a few anti-vaxers back then, but not in the numbers we hear about today.\u00a0 Opinions vary and one can choose to take or not take the shot, but choosing to not be vaccinated is too much of a crap shoot for me.\u00a0 Do I believe that Bill Gates is implanting microchips in people\u2019s arms so he can track our every move?\u00a0 No, I do not.\u00a0 Your cell phone and social media accounts have already taken care of that job.\u00a0 Do I feel being vaccinated is helping to protect my family, friends, and neighbors?\u00a0 Yes, I do.\u00a0 Think about it!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A buddy of mine who likes both baseball and fishing sent me the link to an article about a major league baseball player who had died boating on a small lake located in the front yard of his Florida home.\u00a0 The article said he was traveling at a high rate of speed and in the twilight, he did not see the dock his bass boat hit.\u00a0 The article mentioned the boat was powered by a 150 horse engine.\u00a0 Of course, no one would make light of such a tragic death but the only thing I could think in response was, \u201cWhy would anyone need a 150 horsepower motor on a bass boat, especially on a small inland lake?\u201d\u00a0 Not to open a can of worms here, but I am getting to feel the same way about the need for people to own certain types of weapons for \u2018hunting\u2019.\u00a0 I grew up in a family of hunters and am not anti-hunting, but think about it;\u00a0 how much firepower does one need to drop a deer or bear?\u00a0 When my students would tell me stories about their successful deer hunts, I would tease them by asking, \u201cWas it a fair fight?\u00a0 Now, if you had strapped on a set of antlers and taken that deer mano a mano, then I would say you are a mighty hunter.\u201d\u00a0 No, it isn\u2019t the hunters who are pushing back on limits for purchasing assault rifles and megaclips for hunting purposes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Save the cards and letters because I do not need to know if you disagree with my thoughts here.\u00a0 It is my opinion and there is no need for anyone to write me an angry retort.\u00a0 I have watched the debate for a long time and I know there is a middle ground here.\u00a0 What is important is the ability for people to respect other ideas and disagree in a civil manner.\u00a0 Think about it!\u00a0 Have we not seen enough chest thumping vitriol to last us a lifetime and then some?\u00a0 Just as there are dozens of ways to say \u2018What the Sam Hill?\u2019 when startled, there are dozens of ways to disagree with someone without getting hysterical about it.\u00a0 When disagreements evolve into inflated (or fake) facts to try and make one\u2019s opinion sound more plausible, I am reminded of a quote columnist Gene Lyons attributed to Voltaire:\u00a0 \u201cThose who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.\u201d\u00a0 I believe our history books already contain enough examples of this statement in action.\u00a0 Think about it! \u00a0 Can we now write some chapters that will make future generations view us as humans who used their intelligence to learn from the past in order to improve the future?\u00a0 Think about the history lessons we are leaving behind right now!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Government functions best when our elected officials work together.\u00a0 We are hearing a lot of calls for the government to return to the bipartisan ethics that seem to have been lost in the last couple of decades.\u00a0 Rival parties got more done via honest debate and negotiations before the practice of demonizing \u2018the other party\u2019 became the norm.\u00a0 Any senator who states that their job is to keep the president from doing their job is not fit to serve.\u00a0 Any leader who says, \u201cIt is my way or the highway\u201d is equally unfit to hold office.\u00a0 We need to get over this sense of \u2018ultra-me-ism\u2019 and truly work together for the good of all.\u00a0 Think about it!\u00a0 Democracy has always been built on the concept of working together and if we have learned nothing else in the early years of this new century, it should be how dysfunctional things get when nobody gives an inch.<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 The Queen of Soul and I are in complete agreement here!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are times when the human race makes me shake my head in wonder.\u00a0 There are multiple ways that we can make the world a better place, yet as soon as something \u2018unusual\u2019 happens (for lack of a better word), many people pull the universe into one small unit:\u00a0 themselves.\u00a0 If one considers all 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