Today I received a phone call from an out of state number that wanted to confirm that I was one Thomas Price of 2118 East Drive and that I had in the past and was currently receiving the Clarion Ledger Newspaper on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Once I confirmed the info, the lady offered me the rest of the week for no extra charge until some undetermined date. My response was "What's the catch?"to which she replied, "we just want to thank you for subscribing to the paper".
Now, what threw me off was not that last sentence in its entirety. Hell, papers and magazines have been pulling this scam for decades. They give you a little taste of something and then take it away or leave it for some nice hard cash. This is, in fact, just one of the reasons why Comcast and its affiliates are going to hell. Don't tease me with two weeks of "Dexter" and then snatch it away Saturday afternoon with no warning...No hello, goodbye...Nothing... Anyway, what stood out from that sentence was her saying "...subscribing to THE paper. Not OUR paper.
Now perhaps she made a mistake and said that out of exhaustion from calling yet another worthless customer hell bent on making it through the day without having to give out their personal info and listen to someone beg them for continuous service or whatever. But maybe this Freudian slip came out because she recognized what's happening in America today. We actually like this internet thing. We prefer the intangible. I knew newspapers were a dying product and the even journalists are a dying breed, what with all the Tom, Dick, and Harry's running around blogging and stuff. Not very professional, this blogging thing, you know.
I guess me and the other five hundred old people in Jackson are going to support this paper. Why not. I like the comics.
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