by: DONALD SEVILLA
VESTIGES OF GREED
In a culture of commercialism where success is equated with how much money one makes, it is not difficult to see how businesses try to squeeze every penny out of us.
Notorious among big business are airlines whose policies change every so often from baggage weight limitations to fare restrictions that get us into subtle money traps.
When booking online for tickets if one is not careful enough to read between the lines, you can end up automatically charged an add-on even if you didn’t want one.
Just recently , in my travels with my spouse I noticed too late that we were not seated next to one another.This not only happened by chance I reckoned, but by clever design as it occurred a couple of times.
Then I remembered upon booking online, you are prompted for assigned seats for a fee. Not wanting to pay extra, I always go to the checkin counter and ask for seat assignments as I prefer or assume that any agent with common sense will put you and your travelling companion together.
But with advances in technology that are supposed to make things more convenient for us, come a price. We are goaded and led to pay a little more without our explicit consent. Brilliant!
This may seem petty but these “subtle money traps” earn substantial revenues for the airlines. While perhaps not illegal it is predatory and discriminatory to the unsuspecting passenger to say the least.
Have we been had? Yes.Who would meticulously go through one’s boarding passes after having queued long enough only to find out later that you are seated apart from your travel buddy? Golly me!
Yet not only are airlines guilty of this practice but most of us as well.When we put a premium on money and profit above all else greed sets in .
Why are the prices of basic goods and staple more expensive here in Bohol than in other places? Why are our transport fares and services unreasonably costly compared to other tourist destinations?
When a few entities control the bulk of our enterprises what can we expect to happen? We are an island surrounded by bountiful seas yet our fish are absurdly expensive.
What gives, when the Provincial leadership seems helpless to address these counterproductive practices? Money, money, money appear to be the language of the day.
With the apparent infighting among the governor’s lackeys getting clearer each day, what conclusions can we draw?
This administration rose to power on a platform of anti-corruption and transparency but the way things are happening and are being brought out in the open, are they clean and immaculate like Caesar’s wife? Most everyone of the governor’s men seem to want to be in on the action.
Yet your guess is as good as mine Homies. In the meantime grab your share of the pie and say no more!