“Will you bring it back full, or we fill it up? “No, I’ll fill it up before I bring it back.” The guy behind the car rental counter in San Juan actually smirked at me, likely thinking I’d be shocked at the price of gas in Puerto Rico. It’s sold by the liter there, so the price you see at the pump can appear deceptively low: $1.01 looks great these days, until you realize that’s around $4 a gallon. I returned his smirk with a look that said, “You can’t scare me, I’m from New Jersey.” We’d been to Puerto Rico before, and were hip to the gas-by-the-liter thing -- it’s one curiously international aspect of an otherwise very American experience. (52nd state, anyone?) And since I know how to pump my own gas, ahem, there wouldn’t be a problem there. On the way back to the airport, I zipped into a nearby Puma station and topped off the Hyundai before taking it back to the rental company. No problemo. Let’s forget for a moment how much more complicated that whole transaction would have been if I didn’t know how to pump my own gas (seriously, Jersey, we should have the option). My real question is, should we be this freaked out about the price of gas? After all, we’ve been here before, and a decade ago nobody decided it was time to rush in with a stimulus check to offset the increases the way Congressional Democrats have. They’re proposing cutting $100 checks to folks making less than $75,000 when gas goes above $4, money that in some cases would be better spent improving public transit options like the Woodbury-Glassboro light rail line. The longer we make the gas-powered automobile the center of our public life, the worse off we will be. Also this week, throwing a yellow card on Gov. Murphy, more bbq for everyone, weed inches forward, good news for two local colleges, and Rachel Zegler scores: YELLOW CARD: Remember years back when Gov. Christie made that fake-Springsteen-sounding “Stronger Than The Storm” campaign commercial posing as a PSA and spent Hurricane Sandy relief money on it? This is like that: Gov. Murphy wants $15 million in COVID aid to help his World Cup bid. NO RELATION: Wait, there’s a restaurant chain in New Jersey called Mighty Quinns BBQ, and it’s about to open its third location, in Union. I haven’t been this jazzed since I found out about the other Amy Quinn (how to tell us apart: She’s a blonde elected official from Asbury Park, I’m some broad from South Jersey who writes on the internet)! DELAY DU JOUR: You can argue that the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s latest halting move forward is just them being careful, or you can wonder how it seems to be a delay or concern always seems to crop up just when you think retail approval is coming. Either way, it’s looking like at least another month. GOOD NEWS: Bloomfield College will live on, thanks to nearby Montclair State University. Bloomfield was facing closure before Montclair announced it would loan the school the money to get through the next school year, and Gov. Murphy’s budget proposal includes a $5 million offset amount to make it all work. GET THAT GOODY BAG: Can you imagine how awkward it would have been if “West Side Story” wins the Oscar for Best Picture and the lead actress wasn’t there because she hadn’t been invited? Rachel Zegler told a fan on Instagram she was planning to watch on TV in sweats (girl, same!), and after an outcry she’s been named a presenter. Finally, I wish I could say I was watching the confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson live to hear Sen. Cory Booker’s heartstring-pulling pep talk live. But I couldn’t bring myself to watch another highly qualified woman talked down to, sneered at, smeared and undermined by men. From Joe Biden and Arlen Specter ganging up on Anita Hill to the utter contempt with which Christine Blasey Ford was treated, I’ve had a lifetime of examples of how female achievement and life experience don’t matter in the face of a male ego with a political agenda. And they won’t even pretend to respect you. I’m hopeful Judge Jackson will be confirmed, and can take her seat with pride next to guys like Brett Kavanaugh, knowing she never had to scream or sob about why people were being mean or sing the praises of beer to get her job. PS: Go Peacocks! | 