One of the things I enjoy doing on my days off is to go for long drives. While out there today, I noticed my road master needed a bathe. I pulled into the Fanwood Car Wash on my way back home to give her the treat she deserved.
The guy at the counter gave me their usual pitch: “Oh, sign up for monthly and you can wash all you want.”
I told him I was just visiting the area and would soon be gone. Then he glanced at my license plate-"New York"-and asked whether that was where I was coming from. I said yes and he exclaimed, “Hey, New York is expensive.”
I laughed. “New Jersey, too.”
And I meant it. I used to drive up to Mahwah, New Jersey, back in the day just to buy gas. When I was in college, it was always cheaper there-always as Mahwah was closer to me.
Today?
I have been driving around, and everywhere I looked, gas price is at $4.45 a gallon almost everywhere. All the stations from Plain Field, Fanwood, Scotch Field and up to West Fields, all expensive.
He nodded. “It’s true. Everything is expensive.”
I told him I like to use gas as the baseline for everything being expensive-because it’s the base commodity. The one that touches everything else: heat for homes, food, transportation, even rent-you name it.
When gas moves, the whole world moves with it.
We’re in May, and prices are still sky high.
And that got me thinking about all those talking heads on TV.
A while back, right after the U.S.–Israel coalition started bombing Iran, they all parroted the same programmed line to the masses:
“Short-term pain for long-term gain.”
Sounds stupid, doesn’t it?
In fact, it is stupid, because everyone could tell they were highly dishonest as they are trained to be. No wonder they are all failing, thanks in part to independent media i.e. podcasts.
Since that war started, energy markets have never been the same since-and we’re still feeling the pain. Not just at the pump. The spillover effects are everywhere now: grocery bills, utilities, rent, everything.
Here’s the thing:
Those politicians and their 1% puppet masters don’t go food shopping. They don’t pump their own gas. They will never feel the impact-not really. Only Everyday people do.
And that’s why it’s so counterintuitive to me when I see ordinary people fighting one another over small things.
We have been set against each other while the real architects of this mess sit comfortably far away from any checkout line or gas station.
But maybe-just maybe-thanks to them, we’re all finally putting our faculties to work.
Seeing clearly.
Connecting the dots.
The conversation at the Fanwood Car Wash was small: between two strangers, a few minutes, a shared frustration over the price of everything. But it reminded me of something big: The ones who caused the pain aren’t feeling it.
And the ones who are feeling it need to stop fighting each other long enough to notice.
That has always been one of the tools in their tools box.
God bless,
Pal Ronnie
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