Uchikura & Co., LLC

I was filling up my car at the Costco gas station in Redmond. At the next pump was a gentleman who looked like a contractor; he was driving a Jeep SUV. After he finished, he muttered, "$70 fucking dollars." I felt a flush of sympathy.

 

If you have to drive for your work—tradespeople, delivery drivers, sales representatives, and many small-business owners—these prices are not an occasional annoyance but a sustained hit to their livelihood. Watching him climb back into his truck and calculate the cost, I thought about how fuel expenses ripple through the economy. Higher gasoline prices mean longer commutes cost more, job margins shrink, and the distance between paychecks and bills narrows.

 

For people who bill by the hour or by the job, a sudden extra twenty or thirty dollars a fill-up can erase a substantial portion of profit. For families juggling school, rent, and childcare, every extra dollar at the pump can force painful trade-offs. It struck me that policymakers often talk about inflation and the economy in abstract terms—percentages and indices—without seeing that behind each data point is a person who earns their living on four wheels. When a contractor flinches at a $70 fill-up, that reaction is a clear signal that recovery feels uneven and precarious. 

 

https://en.bloguru.com/ken/541690/at-costco-gas-station