At a time when gas prices are causing much teeth-grinding and profanity, it may be a bit audacious to suggest something else: a celebration.
First off, I’m not that much of an arse just to party while I watch others suffer. So let me put this in context: It’s true that segments of society should not have to worry about the price of gas like medics, firefighters, hospitals, police, anyone struggling with poverty.
For example, a single-mother friend recently laid out to me her plan to save money by biking to work. It was painful to listen to all of her very difficult obstacles to doing so and yet she’s financially strapped.
It galls me that transportation activists haven’t been able to do more for people like her.
On the other hand, I have little empathy when I see drivers of huge shiny SUVs and trucks complaining at the gas tank.
They made an expensive choice, now they can pay more for the resources they use.
If I’ve raised the ire of some SUV drivers, let’s turn to something more fun — throwing a party!
Who would come? Attendees to a gas-price celebration are anyone who likes to eat food, enjoy sleep and occasionally have fun. Okay, nearly all of us.
How do we get there? Really, the choices are infinite: horseback, roller blading, biking, skateboarding, tango-dancing, or hang-gliding from some tall place, etc.
What will we do there? Celebrate anything and everything that supports a less oil-dependent economy. Eat homegrown food. Swap seeds. Wear locally-made clothing. Build earth-sculpted houses. Make music. Assemble solar ovens and water filters. The easiest part is children’s activities since the absence of plastics can ignite their creative ingenuity.
The highlight of the event will be creating a skill-share map that shows what neighbors do for a living. We may discover we have no need to get in a car to visit a nearby accountant, hairstylist or engineer.
True, petroleum is tied to nearly everything in this culture. We’re in a nasty predicament; why not celebrate some solutions?
P.P.S. Will the ‘vote freedom!’ guy please resend that e-mail? It’s lame of me but I lost it!
CALENDAR: All Saturday nights at Bumpy’s, Puyallup Bike Pirate ‘meeting’, Jun. 5 Green Drinks at Patty Coynes, Jun. 18 Solar Group, Jun. 19 Environmental Health Priorities.
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