Did I mention I’m upset about Oregon’s new hands-free cell phone law?
Here’s another reason I’m upset. Not one lawmaker – not one! – has offered to help me with the cost of paying for my new, Bluetooth-enabled phone, wireless device, car charger or phone upgrade fee.
Nope. I had to bear that $169.99 all by my lonesome.
And why, you ask, should a hardworking taxpayer like yourself have your hard-earned tax money diverted to a phone-using driver like me?
Well, because my hard-earned tax money helped buy YOU a converter box so you could continue to watch TV. And I don’t even have a working TV, so I think it’s only fair you should subsidize my cell phone instead.
And why, you ask, were your hard-earned tax dollars used by the government’s Commerce Department to fund converter boxes in the first place? Were we worried a national emergency might ensue if some people didn’t have access to “American Idol”?
Well, now, I don’t really have a good answer for that. But surely not having a good answer is no reason I shouldn’t get help paying for this new wireless setup the law says I now have to have.
3 comments
jennifermoody says:
Jan 5, 2010
That's funny, Paula, that's almost exactly what I thought about that whole government-coupon for a TV converter box. Apparently we have a constitutional right to "Bonanza" reruns, just not phones, yes?
Ineka says:
Jan 6, 2010
Wow, Jen, you've got some seriously cranky fans on your hands. I didn't even think of all the details of this law. I think it's like the school spelling tests. Everyone thinks they are good for kids and be damned with the research that contradicts that. Everyone thinks that talking on cell phones is bad for driving, but is there really evidence that backs this up? And no, I'm not going to buy any new technology nor learn how to use it to comply with this law. I'll just pull over.
grizzle says:
Jan 10, 2010
You DO have a seriously cranky reader on your hands. There are a LOT of things that would be better for us all. Can you imagine the millions of lives we'll save if we outlaw junk food? Oh, the heart attacks we'll prevent! Or we can outlaw knives, you know people kill with those things, plus I cut myself the other night chopping veggies for my salad. Very dangerous things.
The point is legislating EVERY LAST aspect of human stupidity and carelessness cannot be done. But I'm sure, given our current path, we'll just keep marching in step until every aspect of the human condition is legislated because, after all, someone might get hurt or killed because someone out there is bound to do something stupid. We need more laws. Many more. Lives are at stake.