Changes

Last night, I asked fellow columnist Lester Dizon something I’d never considered before: do I need a special license to ride a motorbike? This is because on the way home, I passed by two things: a guy on a BMW touring bike who looked so cool, and a gas station with a sign declaring its V-Power was now at P60 per liter. On checking the news, I also read that the good fuel companies are also planning a series of price hikes this July to “recoup their under-recoveries”, or something like that. Oh my gas. For some time now, I’ve been convinced that the price of fuel operates under the most perverse laws of economics.

Consider: if something bad happens in Nigeria, like an attack on a pipeline, for example, there will be heated bids for oil futures. Maybe an increase of a percentage point or two. And isn’t it strange how there’s always something bad happening somewhere in the world connected to oil? But if the Saudi oil minister says they are prepared to increase production to meet global demand (a move that’s calculated to ease the oil price worries), the rest of OPEC will scoff and say they are producing enough. And then the US will come up with more bad news about their economy, and so to hedge against the weak dollar investors will buy more oil futures instead, thus driving up oil prices even more, in turn perpetuating inflation, and in turn making the US economy and everybody tied to it in one way or another even worse.

This. Is. Madness.

I’m not one to commiserate over something I have no control of. Instead, I’ve simply resolved to reduce my dependence on oil to the bare minimum. Step one was to practice fuel-efficient driving as much as possible, from feathering the throttle to maintaining momentum to minimizing idling time. Step two was to increase my efficiency of vehicle usage. In a country with a lousy public transport system, the freedom of having a car to use still makes up for the added expense of owning one; the trick is cut out the wasteful drive time and to make best use of what’s left.

Thus, I’ve taken to planning my weeks more prudently. I like to stack up meetings one after another in more or less the same vicinity so I won’t have to take the car to transition in between them. Step three was to cut out a few minor luxuries in the budget to, uh, be able to afford the gas: fewer visits to Starbucks, shifting to store-brand grocery items, restricting movie nights to the truly worthy blockbusters and the like. Step four is still under consideration: buying a motorbike. I like motorbikes as much as the next guy, but I’m still wary of the increased risk of accidents associated with riding exposed on the highway next to eighteen-wheelers and bus drivers subsisting on Red Bull.

Rather than whining about the price of fuel, I’m simply working around the problem. Thus, my monthly expenses haven’t risen in lockstep with the fuel price increases. It’s a lifestyle modification that I’ve found to be not so painful, and even a little bit liberating since I don’t have to visit the gas station as frequently as before. I’m just thankful my family doesn’t have a high-maintenance lifestyle to begin with.

Truth be told, I’m just a little bit glad that the price of fuel is finally making the more profligate users appreciate it more. For the longest time fuel was too cheap to be valued as a commodity. We saw Expeditions and Suburbans idling in parking lots, being used for mundane tasks like grocery trips and picking up the kids from school, never really maximized for their purpose while owners guzzled fuel, secure in the knowledge that they could afford it. Judging from the bargain basement prices of used Expeditions and F-150s and the like today, I’m guessing more than a few owners can’t afford to use them anymore. Heck, even a brand new Picanto costs more than a ’99 Expedition.

With today’s seriously high fuel prices, I don’t really see regular people venting their ire at the local gas station – maybe because if they set fire to it they know it will just make things worse! Even though the economics of oil are too complicated to be understood by the casual consumer, they understand that the big oil companies are simply following the law of demand and supply: as long as you’ll pay, they’ll continue to sell at the prices they dictate.

I won’t be the only person making lifestyle changes to adapt to the times. We’ll be seeing increased sales of fuel-efficient vehicles like subcompacts and diesels, and fewer large displacement sedans and SUVs. We’ll also see a downturn in consumer goods and services as buyers shift to just the bare necessities to survive. Sellers will be pressured to either increase the value of what they sell in order to retain market share, or cut costs to protect their margins.

At some point, we might actually reach equilibrium when fuel retailers simply cannot raise prices anymore due to reduced demand. Until then, we will just have to roll with the punches. We will take a hit, and we will all finally appreciate the real value of the things we took for granted before.

Here are some of your Backseat Driver reactions, comments and questions from last week…

Lester Dizon’s “Beating the Spiraling Fuel Prices” (Backseat Driver, Philstar, 25 June) was a “timeless insight”! – Gerii Calupitan, Muntinlupa

Hi Lester, reading your column about riding and your 6 years and more of ups and downs, motivates me to keep my cool more than ever. – 09228383938

Can you recommend a good riding school for motorcycles near my place in Las Piñas or Parañaque? – 09155674167 (The newly opened Honda Safety Riding Center is located right along KM17 of the East Service road in Parañaque. You can visit www.hondaphil.com for information on rates and courses offered.)

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