BLAST FROM THE PAST

Brent, a North Dakota Democrat blogger, complained today of how the Justice Dept. has allowed web sites to charge more for higher speed outputs. We have no one to blame but ourselves, since we allowed this to happen with our insatiable thirst for more and more gimmicks.

Take the cell phone. A lot of people weren't happy with the dozen or so ring tones that come with the phone; they have to pay a dollar or two for a distinctive one, that fits their personality. A phone was always used to talk on; now we have to text everyone, and this also costs a few dollars. Seeing that fools would part with their money so easily, corporate America joined in the game.

In days gone by banks were small and community based. They loved having your business and gave away toasters and other incentives. High rates of return were paid on savings accounts and fees for services were almost nonexistent. Then slowly fees for various services began to appear, until now we get monthly notices of ever increasing fees, and ever decreasing rates of return. We are paying them to make more money off of our money.

They got us hooked on ATM's, and soon it was fifty cents; and now it costs several dollars. Some even tried charging to use a teller. How soon will it be when they start charging for the automatic bill paying? Are they waiting for the holdouts to get hooked, and then start charging?

Phone, cable and credit card companies quickly joined in with their own fee set up. For just a few dollars each, they can custom fit you with services that you don't really need.

Water fountains were everywhere to quench our thirst; but they got us hooked on bottled water, and soon those fountains became extinct. Promotional items displaying company logos were given away for free at one time. And now they are being sold at inflated prices as people stand in line to purchase them.

As long as the public is so willing to part with their hard earned money, they are willing to dazzle us into believing we can't live without it. So the next time you say to yourself it's only a dollar or two; multiply those dollars by twelve months and see the results.