Water........

We love water.  We love to drink it, bathe in it, swim in it, fish in it,watch it, listen to it and much more. We gripe about the cost of gas, yet we can spend upwards of $6.00 to $9.00 a gallon on water for the convenience of purchasing it in a bottle. Just think how inconvenient it would be if we did not have gas to get to the store. Might make us think that the projected $5.00 a gallon for gas is not so bad.Truth of the matter is if we equated everything we purchase to a gallons worth and figured what it cost, we would be shocked at what we pay.  The problem with gas is that we use so damn much of it. Hence, tomorrow I am going on my first carpool adventure. Not purely to save money but in response to my car troubles. I will just look at the savings as a by product. Of course who knows how I will feel about the lost convenience of traveling on my own.We don't view ourselves as a selfish country, but we are. We like to be alone at times, in our car, in our home watching TV, reading the paper or on the computer.  In many countries around the world this is something they know very little about.  They may never get the opportunity to sleep alone, travel alone, eat alone or even bath alone. The space in which they live would seem impossibly small to us. But many people in other countries live their lives driven by the necessity of their basic needs. Food, shelter, clothing and not much else.  We like to think that we are struggling in our country for basic needs as well, only our definition is quite different. Our homes are elaborate, and usually accommodate only one family, we own our transportation, or have it readily accessible, our food is well past the bare necessities and yes we buy our water in bottles and have it delivered into our homes through faucets. Many countries people are not that fortunate. Their water is not clean, or plentiful.  We would never think of having to bath, swim, wash, drink, fish, and even use the bathroom in the same body of water. Many people around the world do just that. Water is a life force needed by all of us, and taken for granted by many of us. We considerate it a luxury to live near water, for them its a necessity.  Many years ago, a acquaintance of ours was very mad at his son because he was investing all his money in disposable water bottles. He said who in the world would pay for a bottle of water when all they had to do was get it from the faucet in their home. Who, indeed. Guess it goes to show you that Dads and Moms for that matter, do not always know everything. So the next time we complain about the cost of gas while sipping water from a bottle......lets try to keep it all in perspective..........