An Open Letter to the Oil Companies

Dear Oil Companies,

By gouging us at the pumps, your kid isn't ever going to get a good job or make any friends. And here's why.

When prices increase at the pumps, we have less disposable income. The only thing we can afford is to put gas in our car to drive to and from work.

When the only thing you can afford to do is work, you stop doing other stuff - like going to the movies, eating out, and taking vacations. We especially stop buying new things like clothes, electronics and vehicles. We all just make do with what we have.

When we stop buying stuff, stores stop ordering from their suppliers, and suppliers stop ordering from their manufacturers. Simple supply and demand. Demand is clearly taking a beating.

When the demand plummets, production slows down or stops.  When that happens, profits plummet and people start losing their jobs.

When people lose their jobs, they cut back on everything, including borrowing money to send their kids to post-secondary schools.

When people don't send their kids to continue on with their studies, new technologies aren't invented.

When new technologies aren't invented, no new jobs are created. This adds to the fact that a whole bunch of people are still out of work.

This means your kid won't have anywhere to go for work when you finish paying for their post-secondary education with the money you made by gouging us at the pumps.

They'll continue to live at home and not be social. They won't make any friends, nor will they meet their partners and raise families.  And even if they were to have a family, they wouldn't be able to afford the gas to drive their kids to see Grandma and Grandpa.

I'm all for free enterprise. And I'm all for profit. But seriously? Instead of a 5000% profit, let's try 4000% and see what happens.  I promise, you'll still be able to afford your cigars, whiskey and hookers. You may just have to cut out one hooker per day.

Sincerely,
Paprika