Slowing Down To Save

With gas prices for regular unleaded approaching $4.00 a gallon here in Florida, I have started over the past few weeks of driving about ten miles per hour under the speed limit on the highway. I have a 40 mile commute to work, so I drive about 80 miles a day. I figure I can save a few bucks by reducing my speed a little bit. But, the interesting thing is that while I have a 4 cylinder Honda, the entire trip to and from work, I am constantly passed by gas guzzling 8 cylinder SUV's whizzing past me doing about 85mph! Even in my Honda, I'm doing extremely well getting 30mpg. What are these people thinking?!? I'm essentially doing the same thing as drinking 2 1/2 gallons of milk a day in the cost of driving to and from work, and these people are getting nowhere as good as mileage as me, and they just keep putting the pedal to the metal... To get where?!? What's the hurry??? Where are you going that causes you to whiz by me so damned fast??? I figure I'm saving at least a few bucks a day by slowing down just 10 miles an hour on my trip to and from work. That adds up over the course of a month/year. I remember my 11th grade Spanish teacher telling me once that I had passed him on the way to school, and that the speed limit of the interstate was 65. I must have flew by him going about 80.... ON MY WAY TO FRIGGING HIGH SCHOOL! What was I in such a rush to get to school for??? I guess I was young and stupid... But, this stupidness continues with most people it seems. Even as oil approaches $130.00 a barrel, and gas prices approach $4 dollars a gallon, people continue down this high-school mentality of "I MUST GET THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, DAMNED THE COST, OR THE RISK OF SPEEDING FINES!" I just don't get it, maybe this is one of those things that you just get, as you get older... I don't know... But I do smile and shake my head when I watch the Hummer pass me in the fast lane going 90! He's spending about $3.50 every 10 minutes he's on the road. If he's got a good income, I have no problem, but I fear he might be one of the disillusioned Americans that pays for their gas on their Citibank credit card, and pays their sub-prime mortgage with their 401k loan. The mortgage broker told them they could afford their $200,000 dollar home on their $50,000 (combined yearly income) with no money down. Because you know they "deserve" the American dream right? The hot sauce has really been spicing up the black beans and rice I've been eating lately... I have been struggling to make ends meet, and I fear it may get worse before it gets better. At least I'm not up to my ears in debt at this point, I would be in a horrible place if I was. I have discovered lately that it doesn't really matter what people think. If being thrifty and watching where I spend my money makes me weird, it's just one more thing to throw into the barrel, most people the know me know I'm a little odd anyway. So be it. History does repeat itself... Found this interesting picture just now. Weird dichotomy between what people think they are living, and what the reality of their situation is, or what their view of their situation is compared to their actual life. Thoughts to ponder as I go to sleep.