I watched a TikTok from a potty-mouthed trucker this morning and let me tell you, the f-bombs weren’t the most concerning thing about the video. This man was filling up his semi-reefer unit (refrigerated truck) at a gas station in Tennessee and it totaled at a mind-numbing 1,052 dollars, which prompted him to ask, “What the bleep are y’all gonna do next month when a gallon of milk costs eleven dollars?”

Good question.

We haven’t gotten to 5.15 a gallon here in Central Va, but we’ve bypassed the 4 dollar mark. I’m as happy as the next girl who’s never thought about where her petrol comes from to put oil sanctions on Russia, but I do have a question:

What’s 100-13?

87? Ok, great.

In 2021, America imported only thirteen percent of its gas from Russia, which should mean that by discontinuing that relationship we still have a whopping 87% of our oil still available, no?

Check out this graph I didn’t make:

So why are our gas prices rising so drastically? Because we’re about to stop trading with Putin? That doesn’t make sense.Why aren’t we just importing more from Canada or the Netherlands?

If anyone has a good reason, I’d love to hear it.

I know! I’m not allowed to speak out against this. The same “take one for the team” narrative we saw with the hokey pokey has morphed into “just buy an electric car or learn how to unicycle, you greedy American!”

Now hear me on this: I care about the people of Ukraine. I’ve been praying daily for God to help them.

I also care about the innocent people in Russia.

And I care about Americans. It’s not wrong to care about the people you know and love. It’s not selfish. There are many people living paycheck to paycheck (about eighty percent, back in 2017 and I shudder to think what is now). What happens when filling up your car to get to work means you can’t afford groceries this week? Or the light bill?

Caring about our countrymen doesn’t mean we don’t care about others facing horrendous circumstances. We can care about both. And we should.

Y’all.

Get your pantry stocked now. Plant a garden. Make sure you have an adequate amount of first-aid supplies and any medicine you may need in the not-so-distant future. The inflation is only going to get worse, so why not plan ahead? If you need ideas on how to get started, I’m happy to point you in the right direction.

Buckle up, friends. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride. And a short one, because I can’t be filling up my tank more than once a year at these prices.

Love y’all.

Angela