Switching to CF light bulbs

Okay so really my thought here is: Why don't more people switch to the compact flourescent light bulbs?  You know, the little squiggly things...  

I work in a home improvement warehouse.  Directly across from my desk is an endcap filed with these little compact flourescent bulbs.  Not a bad price on them either.  And every day, I just watch as dozens of people stop, pick up the box and look at it, put it back on the shelf and walk away.  I have tried to sell these things and nobody wants them.  Now my question is WHY!?  It breaks down to only two common categories of rejection, really:

1.  They look different.  Human beings are generally very resistant to change.  Anything new and different is scary and not right.  Therefore, you must avoid it at all costs.  

2.  They cost more initially.  Because these bulbs cost a dollar or more EACH as opposed to conventional bulbs that you can get for 50 cents, people do not see the logic in buying them.  Trying to explain to them that the bulb lasts ten times as long and costs a quarter as much to run, just doesn't work.  Again, human beings typically restrict themselves to thinking of NOW, not tomorrow.  Not next week or next month or next year.  Hell, sometimes you can't get people to plan for an hour from now.  So trying to give them an explanation of why something is better in the long run is... frustrating.     

Really, the lack of long term thinking is how we got to this point.  How we got to the point where the ice caps are melting and the weather is changing and the environment is crumbling around us.  People don't care how their actions today, right this second, are going to effect the world ten years from now, fifty years from now, or even next week.  

And here we are with something so simple as a different light bulb...  a bulb that burns brighter on a fraction of the energy and lasts ten times as long as a normal bulb.  And we can't persuade more people to switch.  It is easier in today's society to convert someone's RELIGION, than to convert their lightbulbs. That is sad, especially when you look at the impact these simple little changes could make.

The following text was taken from the EnergySTAR website:

"If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars."

I, personally, have made the switch.  Every changeable light bulb in my apartment has been converted to compact flourescent.  Unfortunately I have been unable to find a CF bulb on the market for the range hood, the refrigerator, the oven or the little puck lights up under my cabinets.  I suspect they don't exist.  But my new $20 per month electricity bill tells me I did a good job on cutting my energy consumption.  And for that I am proud. 

I also convinced my friends and family to switch their bulbs, partly through gentle persuasion and convincing arguments and partly through ruthless bullying ;)

I think if each and every one of us can get someone to switch even ONE of their light bulbs to a CF type, we will have made a positive contribution to the greener living effort.

What do you think?