When Life Gives You Lemons

4p.m. usually finds me winding down the day and eating a long over-due lunch. Daniel, on the other hand, is adjusting his headphones, getting a fresh glass of H2O, and waiting for Peggy’s countdown to start his show…

I was ready to hear about the market, or what the Fed is talking about these days. I had Google ready to start researching questions I’d have during Dan’s monologue, and a separate notepad to write down notes on the Money-lingo. But to my surprise, Daniel brought up a topic that I truly understood. He exposed what many are talking about but offer no real solution to. Gas prices!

Ok. Seriously, OMG I don’t know one person who isn’t affected by gas prices! Whether you drive or you’re driven, everyone around me is wondering, “When will driving be affordable again, and when the heck will the gas prices go down?” The truth is, as long as people want to keep getting from point A to point B, and keep wanting to get a tan at point C, gas prices will keep going up. C’mon, are you really that surprised? Everybody knows this. The question isn’t when will prices come down, the question is what can I do about it?

Follow me for a minute . . . if you sold lemonade for a living, and every summer you took note that your inventory sold out due to the intense heat, it would be logical to increase prices in the summer to bring in the most profit, right? Well, gas prices are the same, except it’s always summertime in gas-land, and gas is selling big no matter what the prices are. Whether you drive a beat up boat of a car or a diesel Dodge truck, you still need to move yourself around, and will learn to manage your money around gas prices.

When I saw the movie, I Am Legend, the whole theatre gasped when the futuristic prices at the pump started at $6. Forget the whole end life as we know it, and how humanity lingered in the hands of Will Smith, right? It shocks me that gas prices seemed to scare everyone else so much more! I didn’t really find myself gasping, because truthfully, it seems like pure logic. $6 may seem cheap in a couple of years!

So what can a poor soul do in such a powerless situation, you ask? Well, complaining isn’t filling up your tank honey, and expecting the money experts to rectify the situation is about as likely as money growing on trees.

Daniel made it a point to say that what you should be doing is learning how to not care. Yes, I said it, who cares about the gas prices! I’m still going to visit my brother in Hempstead, a good 45 minute drive away. I’m still going to go from the office to school, and if the weather isn’t Houston-like (humid & sticky & gross) I’ll take a drive out to Galveston. Do I have an electric car? No. Do I car-pool? No. Do I ride Metro? God no, I am horrible with buses! What I do have is Daniel’s theory, focusing on making more money. (Yup, cha-ching!! Show me the money, right?)

Now, Daniel has the sufficient means to fill up his tank quite frequently without a real problem, but for us students trying to make a dollar out of our chump change, and for those families car-pooling, listen up!

Talk to your supervisors and see how you can make more money. If paychecks increase, then gas prices will be no match for us. Take side jobs, inform yourself! Improve the quality of your work performance. That’s how you forget about gas prices!! Don’t ask for raises, ask for opportunities. What else can you as an employee do to be more successful and earn more money? Think about it.

Next time you find yourself worried about your tank running low, remember what to do when life gives you lemons! You sell them in at growing pace, keep your prices up, look for different ways to improve your lemonade with fruits and additives, and for God’s sake, keep making lemonade! It’s hot outside!