The $47 Bag of Cat Litter

I walk a lot, always have. I don't drive, but even if I did, I love walking and would do it anyway. Yesterday I needed to go to the market and would normally have walked the 1-1/2 miles there, but since we're buried under 8 tons of snow I decided to take a cab. Another time I'd have put off the trip until I could walk, but I needed cat litter and if you have a cat, you know that's something you can't wait on.

When I lived in upstate NY, $5.50 would get you anywhere within about a 5-mile radius in town, another $1 for the next town over. I'd plan my trips to get everything done at the same time, so it didn't cost much at all. So when I called the local cab company, I didn't think to ask how much it would be since in everything costs more in NY, so I thought it would be ok.

We went to the market, and when I asked the guy to pick me up in an hour, and how much it was, he said 'Well, it's local so it'll be $18". I confirmed what I was thinking: "This is round trip, right?". He smiled and said that no, it was for a one-way trip, meaning it would be $36 to get there and home.

I literally got lightheaded hearing this. I'm not rich, and even if I was, would never give in to price-gouging. We were already at the store, so I had to pay him for the trip there. It turned out that the sidewalks were clean all the way there and I could have walked to the store and taken the cab back, but I didn't know this until afterwards. So I was stuck.

I was so freaked out that I had to walk for a few blocks just to get my head back to normal. I got the litter (Plug: 'Feline Pine' is the BEST) and a few other things. I didn't get everything I planned to buy because I had to offset the extra expense. I went home paying another $18. So $36 there and back, plus $10.99 for the litter comes to $46.99.

I'll shred newspapers and douse it with baking soda for a day or two before I'll ever do that again.

I was trying to figure out how this was possible; why such a difference in price from one place to another, then it hit me. In NY, many people didn't have cars and a lot of them are poor, but have to get to work, doctors, etc. There were about a half dozen cab companies in my town alone, so there was competition and price wars, similar to what gas stations do. There are also buses into NYC and even a 'Dial-a-Bus', a little van that you could schedule a local pick up with for only $1. But here in suburbia, there are no buses, no private services, nothing. There are tons of McMansions and more Lexuses and SUVs than I care to count. So the demand isn't there, nor is the competition. But, they're all doing the same thing--driving a mile or two and that's it. Capitalism at its finest I guess.

I need to take a walk.