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We're all in the same boat with gas prices! Have you looked around on the freeway and seen the ridiculous quantity of SUV's prowling our highways and byways? I own one too! What a poor idea on my part, but hey, it is what it is.

I also own a family sedan as well, and it has become our primary source of transportation. The gas guzzler is used in the winter and on a few special occasions. You don't have to run down to the dealership like sheep flocking to a Sheppard and get committed to five more years of vehicle payments and buy a new hybrid.

The days of cruising the strip and general joy-riding are quickly becoming a luxury that normal working folks just can't afford. Trip planning has changed from a good and practical practice to a necessity you can no longer ignore.

There are of course those trips that are unavoidable such as taking the kids to school, of course having them ride the bus is the best alternative to help save gas. But just like buying groceries in bulk at places like Costco and Sam's Club are practical methods for saving money by buying in large quantities, making one trip every month to buy food is far more economical then driving to the local grocery store every other day for milk, bread, and eggs.

Americans are the most prolific wasters of fossil fuels in the world. We just hop in the big old truck and drive on down the road. We must change our basic attitudes about driving our cars and trucks. Gas prices are out of control and car manufacturers are making a token effort with their hybrids, but it's really up to us.

Remember car pools? If more people in this country would adopt a less independent attitude towards fuel conservation I think you would see a reemergence of carpools in America. You see ten people on you're block every morning driving into the city and probably working within blocks of each other, but do they carpool? NO!

How many Americans use public transportation, such as the city bus system? There are thousands of city dwellers who have never ridden a city bus, not even once! You're tax dollars are paying for it. Think, if everyone who lived close to a bus stop rode the bus to work even one day a week! Let's say Friday, because it's the end of the work week and usually the busiest day of the week.

Do you realize how much fuel would be conserved just in that one city alone on that one day of the week! We have become so dependant upon our cars and trucks in this country that we will drive across the road just to check the mail.

What has happened to the American's who used to ride bikes and take walks in the Park? We fight traffic and downtown madness to window-shop! We drive our cars to excess and don't think about the economic aftershocks and how our gas-burners affect our atmosphere.

We must learn to squeeze as many miles out of a tank of gas as possible. Trip planning, carpooling, public transportation, even riding a bike if and when it's practical. The oil companies are ecstatic over the exorbitant price they are being able to charge you and the auto makers are smiling over the popularity of hybrid vehicles and the high price they are sold for.

We're all in the same boat! Being extorted at the gas pumps, and we have little control over that, honestly. But we do have control over the management of our time and how we choose to conserve our money by planning our trips and avoiding unnecessary wasting of petrol.

Learn more about this author, Jim Osborn.
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