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Free for all!

Tonight I had to buy tires for my car. One of those adult expenses that apparently kicks in every 40k miles or so. This isn't the first time I've bought tires, but it's the first time I've been adult enough to pay attention to the cash coming out of my pocket. It must be all those other bills I'm responsible for these days. Pfft. Sometimes being an adult is really, really lame. Buying tires is really lame. So many other things my money could do. I could have had 10 new pairs of really great, adorable shoes. Or I could have bought a plane ticket to Mexico and had enough left over for a few days worth of margaritas. But nooooo, instead I bought round tubes of rubber (With silica for extra grip on wet roads. I live in Oregon after all.) with a bunch of grooves in them. The good news is I won't slide out when it's rainy, and I won't have a blow out while I'm doing 70mph on I-5. Yes 70. Gretta has a little horsepower and I tend to speed these days....

This whole experience has really brought up a subject I've spent some time thinking about. You see there are just things in the world I don't think we should have to pay for. These things tend to fall into one of two categories. Things I just don't want to spend money on because it's annoying and things I don't want to spend money on because we should all have these things as our inalienable rights a.k.a natural rights and to some extent basic human rights.

Let me preface the following paragraphs with an assurance that I am not a communist. I promise I'm not. This is really just silly, for the most part, with a bit of truthiness thrown in. No need to deport me or put me on some watch list.

Let's talk water. H2O. I hate paying my water bill. I hate it when I have to buy water in a store or restaurant. Water is required for me (and anyone else) to live. Why do I have to pay for that? Yes I know, the city takes my water and makes sure it's all clean and stuff, even though Portland has some of the cleanest water in the country (thank you Bull Run Reservoir, est. 1895!). I pay for that. Blah, blah, blah. I NEED water to function so I pay for it but if I NEED it to live shouldn't it just be my basic right? Like air. At what point will someone start charging me for the oxygen I take in? So yeah, I want free water.

Drugs too. I think I should get Nyquil when I'm stuffy and Pepto when my tummy is upset. I don't want to worry about how much it's going to cost when I don't feel good. I can't even comprehend how that must feel when you're needing to come up with the money for a round of chemo or a life saving infusion. You need ibuprofen for that splitting headache (whether brought on by a few too many Long Islands or a sinus infection) you get it. You need radiation, you get it. Just as an aside, one gallon of Nyquil will cost you $70. It's .54 an ounce. One serving is about one ounce. At the recommended dosage you will take four servings a day. A bottle will last you 2.5 days and cost you more than a gallon of gas. That's just Nyquil. I can only imagine what some prescription drugs must cost.

In the other category I have quite a few things...like toilet paper. Life can happen without it, but really it shouldn't. So I want it for free. I don't want to have to pay $8.99 for twelve rolls of paper. And it should be soft, like Cottonelle I buy now. Because my bum deserves it.

And underwear. Again, not mandatory for living, but pretty close. So I want it to be free. And it should be cute, and include matching bra and panty sets because every girls likes them. It should also be comfortable. Is that so much to ask for?

How about water heaters and any other appliance? So annoying when they start spewing water at 2am. They've already given me a headache, I shouldn't hurt in my pocketbook too!

Certainly the top of my "It's so annoying that I have to pay for that" list has to be socks. Weird right? I just don't want to have to pay for them. My feet want to be warm and dry and I want them to enjoy the soft cottony comfort for no cost. Too much to ask for?

What's on your list?


Shoes I would be wearing tomorrow if I hadn't bought tires..




1 comment:

Miss Mac said...

I'd like to see one paycheck, just one, without any taxes taken out!!! I promise that money would be used for my own little economic stimulus plan! P.S. I also bought tires recently...with funds from the IVF savings. Sigh.