Ben’s Blog

I woman got on the bus shortly after me this morning and sat down in front of me - she was having a hard time closing the window so I reached up and helped her (always the gentleman).  She said “Thanks” in a very high pitch scratchy voice, like you would expect when someone loses their voice.  Another woman enters the conversation and says “wow, sounds like you came down with laringitis,” to which the first woman responds “I don’t know…been like this for about a year but it will come back some day.”  I’m curious…at what point after losing your voice does it seem like a prudent idea to seek a more informed opinion?  Strange…

So I originally wanted to start this blog to post funny things I noticed while “riding the rapid” in grand rapids…you know, like the really smelly people who always want to sit near me. I’m on my second full week of riding the bus and a lot of people look at me like I am crazy when I tell them what I’ve been doing and they all ask WHY?

Well, as you’ve probably heard gas prices are out of control…but no one ever comes on the 5pm news and says Holy Crap…diesel fuel just hit an all time high of 4.59! I bought a diesel volkswagen jetta because it is a very nice car that also gets mid 40s mpg. I don’t care how great the mileage is…I just don’t want to spend this much on fuel. You know it is bad when a gallon of diesel is higher than a pack of cigarettes.

I think diesel should get much more news - not to get all political, but diesel fuel is connected to almost everything that can be purchased or consumed. Truck drivers are passing on fuel surcharges to the store who in turn pass the higher cost to the consumer so what is going to happen when grocery bills double or truckers finally give up and stop transporting goods across country? I don’t think the answer is a federal gas tax holiday as that is just a band-aid fix that masks the real problem…

For now I am just thankful that I can save some money with the bus, and even more thankful that I can ride for free as a GVSU employee.