Message #3763

[ecuworrier]

it seemed to found me rather than was planned.... in part helped by the circumstances of a large bill....  there is nothing more sobering than being taken surprised by a large bill ... not unexpectedly really just one enjoys the non appearance of it.... i straightforwardly resent the expense rationalise how this necessity is a ridiculous expenditure for the actuall use that it gets.... prices have increased and there i am frustrated and phoning to complain.... i will not go with the flow i am unable to and i don't see why i should ... my freedom of choice confines me to.... the person on the line does offer me something that would be cheaper but the overall costs remain and i am stuck with this.... i pay the bill and find someone offering me cheaper alternatives i won't have to change a thing except the arrangement i have.... i'm not sure if i should be saleschatted in this way and i have not asked for it but still there is no hard sell ....  as it happens i have to actually pay elsewhere... and elsewhere i see the leaflets but nobody says anything..... i reflect on how vulnerable i feel how in end effect i am being exploited by my choices and exploited by my inability to make decisions ... i feel quite oppressed by the hardsell no service world of today.... and it makes me think of how vulnerable people may be in less of a situation to rationalise options nevermind if they in end effect are being taken for a ride..... but my bill and my conversation with GOD forces me into austerity week and oddly this acclimatises well to spend at least the first part of this lent reflecting on poverty and the poor... everyday i undertake some aspect of what it means to be poor and reflect on that...

yesterday i didn't take the bus ... often i will buy a bus ticket that will last me the day.. i have found to my dismay that having bought the ticket valid all day sometimes i make hardly any journeys... well yesterday was quite easy as some of my more bus sensible options fell out... but still i walked i was so caught up in the lent thing that at first was contemplating a silent walk that didn't quite happen as i passed one or two christians and waved and said hello but there was something appealing about the otherworldliness of silence....  with many thoughts and many ways that folks are impoverished.... walking takes you past many people it ponders through space i felt a little irritated by that i wasn't on the bus.. but for some unknown reason when underways i could feel some twinges and then i became aware of the laboured gait of those not able to walk freely and without discomfort or pain i was hardly aware of the buses or cars... but an odd recollection came by ... it was me on the bus in the poor area where it was not unusual for someone to get on pay the fare and then get off again a stop or two later.... to my it is utterly ridiculous! the walking would do them good we are not talking about people who apparently have serious health concerns just normal folks going about what they see as the right way to live,,,, nothing about them exudes wealth so the way that we spend what we got becomes a part of poverty... on the other hand the economy requires that we spend money i am reminded of someone's quote: if you give money to the poor they will spend it if you give it tio the rich they will save..... recently i watched some sport in a poor area pub a whole poor family out for the afternoon some watching the sport... no skysports for them at home then! i was moved by the pathos of only a few drinks the kids being required to sit and watch ... some pub game when it was finished

gottago