Food for Thought

Inflation? Look in the mirror.

As a result of gas prices and in the name of conservation, my wife and I group our chores around town together to do our part to reduce carbon emissions, reduce fossil fuel use, and save money during a time of steep inflation.

I sit in the Albertson’s parking lot listening to an NPR piece on inflation brought on mostly by gas shortages due to the Russian madman and limited supply chain due to China’s authoritarian shutdown.

Closer to home, I am struck by a gas-guzzling SUV adjacent to me. It’s driver, presumably hard working, has been sitting there for 10 minutes with his engine running. I can’t help but wonder if this guy complains about high gas prices?

Does he represent the millions of Americans who complain about the Chinese while spend his hard-earned paycheck on disposable items made in China to satiate the voracious American hunger for cheap “junk” made elsewhere, sometimes by enslaved children?

Does this wasteful guy blame Biden?

Does he remember our former leader who for months poo-pooed a global pandemic, our former leader who emboldened a dictator who started the war that now affects world oil and food supplies, or the same former leader who incited an insurrection based on lies and personal enrichment while “serving the people”?

If he weren’t so busy shoving unhealthy fast food in his pie hole, he might see his better self in the rearview mirror, staring back and wondering if personal responsibility will ever occur.

No doubt it will. The question is, will it be too late; after his expensive doctors tell him his days are numbered, his medical insurance runs out, and his family is forced to sell their home and declare personal bankruptcy?

What do you reflect?