To walk or not to walk

COLUMN

By MIchael Westblade

Unless you live in a cave, deep in the jungle, with the combat of tigers and the finding of grub worms as your primary concerns, you might have noticed the exorbitant rise in fuel prices and the clamor over a coming fuel shortage.

Cue the ominous music.

With war and political strife continuing to ravage the Middle East where we acquire most of our black gold, with more and more countries around the world becoming just as addicted to the stuff as we are and with the overwhelming evidence for manmade climate change, the unspoken reality of the situation is getting clearer and clearer.

As un-American an idea as it may be, it might just be time to start curbing our consumption and take control of this nasty little fossil fuel habit we’ve been giving in to for so many years before it’s too late.

Now, just like any addiction, I don’t think it would be wise to go cold turkey. We’re not anywhere near that yet, and we all know what happens to addicts when they try to go cold turkey.

What I’m suggesting is baby steps and just so you know I’m not a complete hypocrite, I’ve started my own little experiment. A sort of foot in the water kind of thing.

From now on, for any trip I need to make outside my home within a reasonable sphere of influence, I’m going to be relying on bipedal motion, rather than the good old fashioned combustion engine.

If I want to go to the grocery store for something, I’ll walk the five blocks instead of driving. If I want to go to a restaurant in my neighborhood, I’ll do it on foot. As long as it’s not more than a mile or two away, I’ll leave my Buick in the street and do it like they did in the “good old days” — on the soles of my feet.

And now you may be asking yourself, “what’s the point?”

Well, it’s not to save gas. Most of my fuel budget is spent on commuting to work and driving to various assignments in the county, and I doubt cutting out short car trips is really going to save me much money.

And I seriously doubt walking to McDonald’s is going to solve the oil crisis or stem global climate change. I’m just one person saving a few gallons of gas each month.

The point is to simply see if I can do it and if I can, maybe I can do more. And if I can do more, then I can do a little more than that and eventually, just maybe, I’ll be doing something worthwhile.

If we all start taking baby steps, maybe we’ll find out walking isn’t so bad, and maybe we’ll find we’re not as dependent on our cars as we thought we were.

You might even find that you like walking.

It doesn’t have to be about climate change or the cost of fuel or the crisis in the Middle East; it could be as simple as the desire to participate in a little experiment to see what life is like outside your car.

Nothing big, just a baby step to see if you can do it, to see if we can do it.

So, get outside and walk somewhere. Sure, everybody passing you in their comfy vehicles will probably think you’re nuts, but who knows, you might even like it and at the very least you can enjoy the fresh air and get some exercise.