Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Price Gouging

Pity the poor people who may have the means to escape the surrounding disaster, and are now hopefully on their way out. Hopefully, they have a full tank of gas, and a provision of food necessary to get them to where they are going. Especially gas. If they don't there are certain people who will ensure they don't get too far, and that is the people who are by and large in a position to help them get out. Imagine if you will that you have thirty dollars to your name and your gas tank is half empty. You decide you had better stop and fill it up. You do so, and discover that you will owe the gas station forty dollars. Your only alternative is to fill up your tank, probably, otherwise, what with having to crawl along in bumper to bumper traffic, your gas will be gone by the time you get halfway to where you want to go if it isn't filled up. You will just have to do without food until you get to that place, and hope somehow you will get some kind of handout from some charitable organization.

Of course, you could beat the living shit out of the gas station attendant, or store owner, you could then fill your tank up and just help yourself to however many groceries you can get away with. Frankly, if I saw you do that I wouldn't open my fucking mouth, even if it turned out you inadverdantly-or purposely- killed the motherfucker. But for now, you swallow your anger, pay for the gas, secure in the knowledge that some day, some way, the bastard is going to get what's coming to him. If the law don't get him, maybe some day, some way, somebody will. You can always hope.