From Driving Green to Seeing Red

The past couple of weeks have not been easy for me. The price of gas keeps climbing – and I’m driving a Nissan Sentra.
It’s not exactly a gas hog, but it’s not as fuel efficient as my own car, a Toyota Prius.
I bought my 2001 Prius nearly three years ago from a nice couple in Stuart.
They had bought a hybrid SUV and no longer wanted the smaller car.
With no luck selling the car after a few weeks of advertisement in their local paper, they put an ad in The Palm Beach Post. I snatched it up at a good price and have been thrilled with its gas mileage (it averages 46-49 mpg) ever since.
About three weeks ago, a truck smashed the right trunk area of my Prius. My car was parked at a local hospital while I was conducting an interview there.
While my Prius is being repaired, I’m putting out more bucks for gas. And, the Sentra’s gas engine doesn’t shut off at low speeds and stop lights. So, it emits more pollution than my trusty green-mobile.
It could be worse.
An employee at the car rental place planned to give me an SUV, but I told him I’d go the extra mile — to a service shop where technicians were giving the Sentra an oil change — to get a vehicle with better gas mileage.
Sometimes, it really isn’t easy being green.