"I know...you just roll with the flow!"

Neal Page's somewhat subdued reaction to a comment by Del Griffith in Planes, Trains, Automobiles ("I've never seen a man picked up by his testicles like that before!") bears closer examination in these troubles times. We, us, everyone are all being picked up by our testicles, ie, they've got us by the balls big time...male or female notwithstanding.

The price of gasoline alone is prime evidence of this perplexing, ubiquitous situation. The fuel-price-gouging screw job happens every summer, only this time it's quite a bit worse than last year...and the year before that, and the year before that, etc.

Conservatives want to open up drilling off the coast of California and build a shit pot of new nuclear (not nucular) power plants. Liberals? Well, they're not sure yet. They are sure they don't want to disturb the sea otters or run the risk of irradiating entire city populations when that China syndrome thing inevitably happens.

One thing is for sure. Earth dwellers will use up the available oil and gas resources in a relatively short amount of time. Not until that future is tapping us on the shoulder...check that, rapping us up the side of head, will we commit to doing something truly productive. Maybe the solution is in the politics of dealing with the world's oil reserve mongers (for lack of a better term). We use most of this stuff, can't we just tell them to piss off? We could, but that wouldn't make them go bankrupt or change their stingy demeanor. They are already set for life if they didn't pump another single gallon out of the sand. The oil-rich countries afar are well invested and immensely diversified. Their citizens will always enjoy $.45 a gallon Techron no matter what happens.

So, in the meantime, we as Americans just "roll with the flow". Still satisfied to be held by the gonads at the am/pm gas islands. But unlike Neal Page, whose excruciating testicular pain eventually subsided after a couple of Del Griffith's mini airline cocktails back at the motel... ours will not.

As the saying goes, one never forgets how to ride a bicycle. Unfortunately, not enough of us are willing to give it go.