I was reading some things yesterday (and Sarah also read me some things) that kind of made me lose hope for humanity. Nashville is pretty much in a state of crisis. Nearly 90% of gas stations are out of gas. I, personally, am trapped here. I have to wait for my parents to get back from Alabama to bring me some gas before I can go anywhere. Apparently, the entire country is blaming US completely as the reason why we do not have gas. It's the people of Nashville's fault. So, in response, I would like to address some of the main reasons why people
say it is our fault or why we should "get over it."
1. The outage is solely due to panic buying.
While I'm sure that was a factor, I have a very VERY hard time believing that we were the only city in the entire nation that was concerned about not having gas. Really, no one thought that we wouldn't have gas until it had been 3-4 days with no shipments. People were more concerned for awhile about the rising prices, as I'm sure most people
EVERYWHERE were. So panic buying causing the shortage? Maybe SOME people panic, but I think the majority of us are just trying to get to where we need to be, which requires gas. There's been a breakdown in the system somewhere, not in our heads.
2. We should have prepared for this since we knew it was going to happen.
Who knew this was going to happen??? We were told the day before the hurricane hit by our governor that we had adequate supplies of gas and would be fine. We only now just learned, along with the rest of the country, that it's going to be another week before any real progress is made into the problem. We all knew gas prices would rise so most of us did fill up before the hurricane, but I don't think a single soul in this city saw this one coming.
3. People in Nashville are always panicky and whiny anyways. At the first hint of snow, you can't find bread or milk in any store.
Ok, I have to talk about this snow thing cause it really irritates me. We don't get snow. At least not much of it. You know what we do get? Black ice. People in the north don't really understand the danger of black ice because they don't have it. If there's ice on their roads, they can either see it or there's snow on top. So yeah, when there's a danger of ice, people do not like to drive and want to stay home as much as possible. Maybe they'll stock up on some groceries. Big deal. However, I've lived here my entire life and I can honestly say that I have never seen any store that was ever out of bread or milk or batteries or whatever because there was a storm coming. I have no idea where people are getting this idea.
4. People in Nashville are lazy and just don't want to walk anywhere or use public transportation.
This was clearly stated by someone who has never lived in Nashville. For starters, the metro area is VERY large.When we talk about Nashville, we don't just mean downtown. We mean pretty much all of Davidson County, which is quite the large area. While a lot of people work downtown, very very few people live downtown. We aren't like New
York or some other major city where people live in apartment buildings all through the city. Unless they are a college student, a recent grad, or one of the random few who grew up living downtown, it is very unlikely for anyone to actually live there. The majority of people who work downtown live in the suburbs or neighboring towns. These aren't
exactly in walking distance. My mom, for instance, works at Vanderbilt. She lives in Antioch (suburb of Nashville). If she were to walk to work, she would have to walk at least 10 miles on roads that for the most part don't have sidewalks. How many of you people whining about us being lazy would do THAT? My brother-in-law would have to walk 40 miles to work. Wee bit ridiculous, no? Also, I don't think that many northern cities understand that just because we're a major city, does NOT mean that we have some kind of fabulous public transport system. We don't
have a subway or any kind of trolley system or train system whatsoever. We have MTA, the crappiest buses in the country. MTA does not run into the suburbs. It runs along major roads and hits major landmarks. I would have to walk about 5 miles to get to the nearest bus stop from here. And even then, have any of you people ever had to use a bus system? Between changing buses to find the right route and waiting through all the stops, it would take at least an hour, if not 2-3, just to get downtown. Not everyone can budget 4 hours in the morning just to get to work. Plus, bus lines don't run 24/7. Unless you lived downtown already, you probably wouldn't be able to get to your average job in
time.
5. The average IQ of any Nashvillian is 85. If you exclude Vandy students, it's 70.
I almost didn't address this because the person who wrote it is clearly facing some kind of brain injury or mental retardation to actually use this as an argument for why Nashville doesn't have gas. But I just have one thing to say: Athens of the South. Why do you think we have an exact replica of the Parthenon? For kicks and giggles? Nashville has
more higher education than most any city in the South, and we were the first Southern state to implement a public school system. Just because the national media likes to portray all Tennesseans as Billy Bob in his wife beater with no shoes on, covered in dirt, holding a beer, and standing next to his run down trailer while his 20 half dressed children run around, does not mean in any way that we are all like that (it also doesn't mean that Billy Bob is necessarily uneducated...think on that one). It's a rare occasion to even see someone like that, especially in the city. But the media loves stereotypes, and YOU are the moron if you can't see that.
In the end, I can't help but think that if this had happened to any other city in the North or in California, people would be rushing to their aid. Because we are Southern (and probably also because we are a red state), it must be our own fault. Yeah, it's our fault that no station in Nashville has gotten a shipment in a week. Our overpowering stupidity waves have prevented trucks from arriving in town.
That makes sense. I understand now. Thank you all for clearing this up for me.
Comments (10)
Oh baaaaallll. Haha. I luvs my dball. I was kind sad when I wrote that. I was looking at the Datingish site on the topic in cheating, and I talked about my experience as the one who cheated, and how awful it was and what not, and you would not believe the amount of people who told me how awful I was and how once a cheater, always branded a cheater. And I got sad. And this lady basically told me I had no morals.
I hadn't heard much of the gas crisis in that area. We had a little crisis of our own this week with the remnants of Ike coming up here (apparently Ike was SEVERELY geographically challenged and didn't realize that Cincinnati isn't a gulf coast city), with powerful winds that knocked out power to a ton of businesses and close to a million people in the metro area. For a few days it was hard to get gas, since most gas stations were without power, leaving the ones still operating to get slammed by customers until they ran out. I live on the fringes of the metro area here, nowhere near any sort of public transportation, and have a commute to work of over 20 miles, so I can relate on that point. My guess would be that the people who make such claims about the people of your city are largely talking out of a hole other than their mouths. Just my guess.
Thats a serious situation. I hope you can find some gasoline soon, God bless.
@El_Tiz - it just amazed me that people reacted so negatively to us when it's something we can't even help! i guess people are just bored. i'm kind of glad to hear it wasn't just us though
@izakura@xanga - i FINALLY found some yesterday, about 40 miles out from nashville where i go to school. what a relief, i tell ya.
Well said! I am a fellow Nashvillian who found your site on Google while I was trying to figure out what stations had gas today (since in fear of being a "Panicker" and wasting 4 hours of my life, I haven't gotten gas since the shortage started and am down to 1/4 tank). Those articles saying we somehow created the shortage really tick me off. Hello, most stations near me have been out on and off (mostly on!) since mid-week last week. No one was panicking on the RUMOR of no gas, if they were panicking it was based on the fact that stations were running out everywhere and once out, weren't receiving more shipments. Shortage created panic, not vice versa. Duh!
@amberiasoasis - Anytime people face adversity, there are always going to be some people standing off to the side, pointing fingers and saying, "Serves you right! It's your own fault!" How many people in 2005 were scoffing at New Orleans and proclaiming that the people who suffered tragedy and loss due to Hurricane Katrina brought it on themselves? I hope things ease up for you all down there soon.
@Kathy - I hope you found some gas! It's a mess in Nashville right now. I was on empty all weekend while I was there and had to get my parents to bring me some from Alabama! haha I live in Murfreesboro and it's rough out here too but not nearly as bad. I know 102.9 announces stations with gas, they may have listings on their website?
@El_Tiz - very true. why can't we all just get along? we need a nationwide campfire or something.
Ball...haha you are famous now! Now we wait for those endorsements to come flowing in.
By the way, Atlanta is running low now, too...WHY THEY HECK AREN'T THEY PUSHING SUPPLY TO US AND NOT TO EVERYONE ELSE IN AMERICA SINCE WE ARE THE ONE WHO NEEEEEED IT?
AHHHHHHH.
#3 - they have been to Pennsylvania when snow is being forcasted. Seriously. Stores here do run out of milk, bread, and eggs. Its pretty ridiculous. (A neighbor of mine once joked that people must really like french toast when it snows...)
(You were linked on the morning prayer post for revelife. So congrats!)
@der_lila_Stern@xanga - thank you! my cousin called to tell me that this morning. pretty exciting. i might could understand PA running out of stuff since i assume you guys get actual snow STORMS (3 inches is considered a blizzard here), but...maybe they do just like some french toast. can't blame 'em.