It is a sight we have all become accustomed to seeing. Our parents see it and give what seems like hour-long sermons about it, our grandparents see it and go off on a tangent about how things were back in “the old days,” and our friends see it and cringe.
It is no mystery that filling up a car’s gas tank is becoming painful to consumers in Ventura and around the country.
Four dollars and sixteen cents a gallon is currently an average price, give or take a few cents. The present price of gas is far higher than it has been in the past, and we are all trapped in having to pay the ridiculous prices because of our need. The big oil companies know we need oil; we do not produce it ourselves, and it is a limited resource.
Gasoline is a major necessity most people have to use and there’s no other way to get it. The main question here is; what happened to oil prices? What happened is that the supply and demand changed, and these changes are affecting all of us in a negative way.
According to a chart recording of Ventura’s gas prices, the behavior of gas prices in Ventura over the past month has consistently risen slightly above the average for all of California every day. Ventura’s citizens have been feeling this rise in the lightening of their wallets. For students, this is especially true.
“The gas prices are ridiculous, especially in a city where we rely on our automobiles to get us from point A to point B. My parents have to drive to their stores, and my brother and my extracurricular activities, not only do we have to worry about the time, but also how much gas it takes to get to a location,” said senior Sukhpreet Bains.
Since the recession and the woes that came with it, it is much harder for students to find a job. Businesses prefer to give jobs to those adults who have had prior work experience and have lost their jobs due to the economic downfall.
So where does this leave us students? Many students in high school drive to school and every day; the lack of jobs for the younger generation in a time where things are only getting more expensive does not leave us with many options.
“It has made me have to watch how much I drive, and if I am driving other people, I have to ask if they can pitch in for gas money,” senior Cassandra Gluck said.
It is evident that something needs to change; from what has been recently occurring in gas price trends, it seems like more and more students are going to have to invest in less expensive means of transportation.
According to an article by CNBC, the price of gas is cutting into money people would normally have saved as well. The high price of gas has become a major worry on everyone’s minds, and with the expectation of prices reaching five dollars by this coming summer, the situation does not seem like it will get any better.
