Rose Cottage Ltd

First, thanks to someone from Montreal, Canada for being the 41,000th visitor to this blog! I appreciate each and every reader – even if they found themselves here by mistake!!

I went to buy a pack of cigarettes yesterday and had an eye-opening experience. No, it was not that I should quit buying them at all. I’m obviously addicted to something they put in cigarettes to MAKE me addicted. At least with my e-cig usage, I’m down from a pack-and-a-half a day habit to about four tobacco cigarettes a day.

I was at the grocery store and they did not have my brand. To find this out, I had to go through the following process.

I was in the checkout line, asked for a pack of my favorite blend, and waited. First, my checkout clerk did not have a key to the locked cigarette cabinet. She had to call a manager to come with the key. Then the manager had to unlock the cabinet, ask again what brand I wanted – which required me to leave my checkout line and walk over to the cigarette cabinet location. I was getting daggers in my back from the people waiting behind me in line, but hey, it’s not my fault. End of story, they did not have my brand and at $7.70 a pack, I was not buying a substitute.

So I head over a few miles away to WalMart. I grab a few other items, head up to checkout, and there are three checkers waiting at the store end of the checkout lines – waiting to assist me. “Cool” I think – I’ll be out of here in no time.

But no.

You can only purchase cigarettes at Aisle 11. I walk down to Aisle 11 and there are 3 people in line, all with bulging carts. I had 4 items in my basket. I checked out in Aisle 3 and finally made my cigarette purchase at an additional stop.

Now no matter how you feel about my cigarettes, think about this…

I’m closer to 21 times 3 than “underage” for tobacco. I have money to pay for my purchase. I am not doing anything illegal. But look how much my right to make a simple purchase has been hampered. And if you think this new processing is only about tobacco, think again.

Have you tried to pay cash for gas in your car lately? You have to walk in to the gas station, put down a monetary estimate for the gas you might need, go back and pump your gas, and go back to the store (waiting in line again) to get your change.

Have you tried to buy a gun lately? In some states, you need to be background-checked by the local police, for which you pay, to get a permit, for which you pay, to go buy a gun. If you are wanting to attend a local gun show as I did a few years ago in North Carolina – you’d better plan ahead.

Do some reading on what the EPA is up to. Want to collect rainwater on your own property? You just might be FINED for doing so. They’ve found away to make you pay for RAIN! Have water – a pond or a lake on your property? They might just show up to inspect your “water” and then fine you for some obscure “water on the property” requirement. And that’s what it’s really about – getting money from you.

Have you tried to pay for a purchase with a $50 bill lately? Many places will NOT ACCEPT your money – apparently they don’t know that (according to my banker,) the $100 bill is the one most often counterfeit. And part of THIS is to keep everyone addicted to “swiping” money away. Trust me, it’s easier to save money if you have to hand over the bills for every purchase. It’s not that I can’t swipe – I won’t! This is one thing – spending by swiping – that has been made an absolute breeze to do. Imagine that…

The way of life in America has become increasingly restrictive for law-abiding, legal citizens. Things don’t change in one day, but through a long period of minor new restrictions until you wake up one day and realize you can’t easily do things you could do ten, or twenty, or in my case, forty years ago.

We’ll never return to the “can do” days of America. Too many people don’t realize or just don’t care about how much freedom they’ve lost.