Rose Cottage Ltd

It was a rainy weekend here in Central North Carolina. I had plenty of little chores to do inside anyway so decided to take advantage of the rain, do my chores, and watch a old movie or three on Turner Classic Movies.

Have you watched an old movie lately? Did you notice anything?

I watched the original “Airport” movie first. It was an eye-opening experience. First were the constantly ringing telephones. How quick we forget that contacting by land-line phone was so recently the only way to go – and most of them had no answering machine. Don’t get me started on how much basic land-line service costs now…

Since most of “Airport” takes place in a airport, I noticed some glaring differences between airports then (the movie was made in 1970) and now.

First, people pretty much came and went as they pleased. Other than boarding check-in, there was little to no real security. No one removed their clothing or shoes, bags were not scanned, and no one was groped. This was how the guy with the bomb got on the plane of course, but it was rather refreshing to see most people just going on about their business.

Second, people used to dress nicely when they traveled. I’m not talking about stockings and heels for women and ties for men, but people dressed as if they had a bit of self-respect and were actually trying to present a clean and tidy appearance. Have you flown lately or been in an airport? About half of those traveling look as if they haven’t bathed for days. These are people who are going to be in very close proximity to others for hours on end. Many are dressed in clothes that also appear to have escaped washing, or ironing. It’s actually quite depressing to see.

Third, and back to my title of “fees,” one passenger in the movie complained that his ticket from (I think) Cleveland to Rome, was costing $474. Seems pretty cheap to me. I also noticed them serving actual MEALS on the plane. I doubt extra was charged for that. And oddly enough, no one was complaining about peanut allergies. Is this something that just started after say 1990?

If you look at taxes and fees on nearly everything we do today, you’ll realize what the real increase in cost of living is about. You’ll also start to realize how restricted our lives have become. Move from state-to-state? Even if you buy a car in one state and pay sales tax and potentially property tax on it every year, move to state Number Two, and you may have to pay tax on Bluebook value yet again to get a new state tag.

Pay off your mortgage early? Don’t wait for a gold star. There may be fine print in your mortgage paperwork that imposes a pre-payment penalty. Buy a handgun in one state, pay the sales tax, registration fees and permit fees? This gets even worse. If you move to a second state, YOUR registered and permitted handgun MAY NOT BE ALLOWED! And if it is, you could be forced to re-permit and re-register the gun – all at your cost.

Local, state, and the federal government get us coming and going. This is before the dreaded death tax they are trying to abolish now. Think about it. You have a successful business – say you own and operate a auto mechanic shop. You pay your business taxes, you probably pay a yearly corporation fee to the state, you may need permits to prove you are certified to run the business, and on and on each year. Then you die. The more successful you might have been may now put you in the category that says 40% of your estate you’ve worked hard to build for yourself and your family will be taken in taxes. 40%! On money you’ve already paid taxes on!

Is anyone other than myself pretty tired of this garbage?

Considering how much of our income goes to taxes – which now means we are working until April 18th just to cover standard income taxes, we aren’t getting much bang for our buck. In my opinion, our quality of life has not improved in proportion to cost.