Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [136]
“Jake here: I talked to Pete Bannister down at Ace Hardware today and he told me he expected large price hikes on any oil-based products—paints, plastics, and the like. It made me realize that it ain’t just the price at the gas pump that’s going up.”
The next volunteer spoke almost before she called on him.
“John here: Jake’s right. I work for the county road department, and we just got word there’ll be cutbacks on road repairs because of the rising costs of tar and fuel. I’d guess that layoff notices are not far away, and I’m worried to death about losing my job.”
Pastor Veronica sensed the rise of a tsunami of emotions and fears and met each statement with a nod of affirmation and empathy. There were a dozen or more hands in the air, and each comment seemed to trigger a host of new ones.
“My name is Maggie. There are three of us in our family who all need cars. My husband figured if we each use a full tank of gas, that’s thirty-six gallons a week. At close to ten bucks a gallon, that’s $360 a week. There’s no way we can afford this, and we don’t know what to do.”
“I’m Marge and I brought up this same topic last week. I’m eighty-one years old, and it seems we’re living in end times. I can’t for the life of me see a way out of the mess. I’m scared for younger people with their lives ahead of them. What are we going to do?”
As Veronica listened, the desperation in their voices confirmed her feeling that Life Challenges would have to do more than just listen to people who needed to talk out their issues. She herself was worried about the government’s capacity, at all levels, to deal with the escalating crisis. She decided to put something on the table she had thought hard about over the past week or so.
“Thank you for sharing your fears and concerns,” Veronica said, firmly enough to quiet the mumbling of side conversations, “Now I’d like to share an idea that might interest you—something that we can do about our fears.”
The room quieted; they always liked hearing Pastor Veronica’s ideas.
“When our forefathers settled this land over a hundred and fifty years ago, they encountered unparalleled challenges. They had no established government at first; there was no social security or police force to help them. They didn’t see themselves as victims. On the contrary, they rolled up their sleeves and learned to adapt and depend on each other for support. We might be well advised to take a page from their book by relearning how to work together to survive and solve our shared problems.
“I would like for us to consider taking Life Challenges to a new level. I see organizing ourselves along the lines of a co-op, where we can work together to address many of the challenges we have discussed tonight. For instance, several people expressed concerns with how to meet transportation needs with rising gas prices. One way is to share rides and cut down automobile use, but we can’t do that unless we know who needs to go where and what vehicles are available; this requires planning.”
Veronica saw several people on the edge of their chairs, obviously interested.
“Another example: we all know fuel costs will go up, including the costs of heating and utilities. Maybe we can find experts who’ll tell us how to get by with less through weatherization and other efficiencies. This requires planning. Some of us might become homeless due to the economy, but maybe someone else has a spare room to loan.
“There are challenges out there we haven’t even considered, but there may also be resources we haven’t tapped yet. I want to identify the needs of our Life Challenges group members and find creative ways to meet those needs with what we have. The pioneers circled the wagons whenever danger loomed; that might be exactly what we need to do as well.”
“I think I get the drift, Veronica,” said old Jake Hawkins, “but how do you propose we do it?” She could have hugged old Jake for his beautiful set-up question.
“That’s a great question, Jake, and there is something I’d like to suggest. If the people in this room are genuinely interested in doing