the real kind of surreal

so i was at the big rl. the lunch rush had dwindled; only a few customers remained in the restaurant. some servers and i were gathered around the bar tv, watching cnn, when ken, an assistant manager, strode up and told us that if we didn't have gas in our cars, we'd better get some immediately. of course i knew that gas prices would be on the rise because of the katrina catastrophe, but i didn't foresee an impromptu, gas pandemonium.

when i walked onto the deck, which faces a major intersection marked by two adjacent gas stations, i saw that 78, a six lane highway, was in gridlock because people were bum rushing the gas stations. when i walked back in, rumors about gas prices rising ten cents an hour and reaching up to four dollars per gallons were flying. i tried to call my mom via cellphone to confirm anyinformation, but everyone else was on their phones andthe cell network was down. then the new news was that georgia wasn't going to get any gas for the next few days. pretty much, within the course of ten minutes, the small world in our restaurant turned upside down.

it wasn't much later that the district director called to tell managers to cut labor in half, meaning that i would go home very early. as soon as i got in my car i turned on the radio for any further information. the state governor, sonny perdue, denied allegations that georgia's gas supply would be halted, dismissing all talk of it as "internet and telephone rumors." he then declared a state of emergency, which would supposedly legally freeze ridiculous gas prices. pretty much, i had no clue what was going on, so i waited in line and filled up at a local qt for 3.09 per gallon (premium gas). they were already out of regular and midgrade unleaded fuel at six pm. there were news reports of prices as high as five and six dollars for regular unleaded. the highest price i saw was 3.99.

regardless of whether all of this was founded or not, it's amazing how fast mass panic can occur. it's as easy as crying "bomber" in a crowd to send everyone into a deadly frenzy. the situation i was in felt surreal. all of this just confirms that stability and to some degree, sanity are just based on a belief that "everything is okay." as soon as that mindset is shattered, hell ensues. i'm not sure how to convey this, but everything just is the way it is, and we are always on the verge of having nothing and having everything.

and i could go on
and on
and on and on and on
but i'd just be rambling too much for even me to go back and read