Gas Prices Have Wide Ranging Effects

The ever-increasing cost of gasoline is having an effect that is difficult to ignore. The very lifestyles of people around the world are changing because of it. The governments at national and local levels are all making adjustments to help with the blow of these increasing costs.

County and city officials have decided to go to four day, ten hour work weeks in order to help off set the ever increasing cost of gasoline. This change was made in an attempt to help the employees save one day from driving and to cut down on the amount of time that county and city vehicles are on the road. Garbage collection has gone from twice a week to once a week with the assignments of larger garbage cans to residents in order to make this possible. The post office is even contemplating going to a five day work week. For years we have depended on a six day mail delivery and now there is a chance that it is no longer going to be the case.

There are areas that are taking police out of their patrol cars and putting on foot. This not only increases the visibility but cuts down on the amount of gasoline used for them to patrol downtown areas.

The reasons for these proposed and already incorporated changes? The fact that half way through the fiscal year these organizations are already over the budget allotted them for gasoline. These aren't the only areas that have been affected. School children are being affected as well. Field trips that were once a part of the normal school routine are now being looked at as an extravagance. The chance of them being cut out is a real possibility.

A gallon of milk is now five dollars; this is a direct result of the rising fuel cost. The food for the cows has to be brought into those areas that are experiencing the yearly drought conditions and this is raising the cost of the feed. Now we get the offset directly with this large increase in gasoline. The grocery prices are increasing on all the products that we used to take for granted. Everything from vegetables to paper towels are increasing in price; fuel is needed to transport the items that farmers require for the growing of the crops successfully and for them to run the tractors and other equipment that is utilized in the maintenance of the crops. This causes an increase all the way down the line.

Families are feeling the effects of rising gasoline prices as well. There are some that have reduced the amount of food that they purchase in order to afford the filling of the gas tank to get them to work for a week. With more SUV's than ever the average cost for someone to get to work and do the needed errands for a week is at least eighty dollars given the average twenty gallon gas tank. Vacations and family activities if done at all are closer to home than ever before.

Where children were once encouraged to participate in after school and other extra curricular activities they are now being pulled out of them. The cost of getting them there has become too much for families that fall into the low income range. Then there are changes at home as well.

Along with the rising gas prices comes a rise in the electrical cost. There are some that are doing everything they can to stay on the lower side of utility bills even if it means suffering through extreme heat to avoid the cost of running the air conditioning. Lights are being cut off and basic pleasures are being done without.

The increasing cost of gasoline has touched every aspect of life for people around the world and the effects show no signs of letting up as unemployment rises in some areas. The cost of gasoline is causing some employers to reduce their staff in an effort to make up the difference and some federally funded assistance programs are decreasing the benefits provided as the cost of gasoline causes more families to require them and the needs can not be met on the same scale they once were.