401
Posted on May 28, 2018 at 12:17 pm by Gene Ambaum
Characters: Jody
↓ Transcript
Patron: I need a bag to carry these home.
Jody: We have these.
Patron: Great!
Jody: They cost a dollar.
Patron: Well they should be free!
Jody: They still cost one dollar.
Jody: We have these.
Patron: Great!
Jody: They cost a dollar.
Patron: Well they should be free!
Jody: They still cost one dollar.
5 thoughts on “401”
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Ours cost $3.
Our cloth bags cost $1, but we usually have a few free plastic grocery bags for patrons.
Lots of things used to be free, some not even that long ago. (I’m not saying that libraries shouldn’t charge for tote bags esp. since the expenses of some libraries–maybe all?–keep going up, and not all receive the same level of support that they used to, or maybe they never got decent funding).
Some of these changes were pretty recent, too. Except for Southwest Airlines, apparently no other carrier checks one bag, let alone, two, for free on domestic flights any more. Just a few short years ago, pretty much all airlines offered to check two bags for free as long as they didn’t exceed certain weight limits, which, of course, is understandable. I also recall that several (all?) promised that the charges were “temporary” and would be lifted when fuel prices, which were extraordinarily high when the checked bag fees were added, dropped back to pre-spike rates. Guess what? Fuel prices did go down, but the checked bag fees remained on the books, seemingly forever. Once a new fee gets added, it seems to be written in stone! On some airlines, you can’t even get water for free, let alone any other kind of beverage or refreshment. There has even been talk of instituting charges for using the lavatories on planes. I, for one, am glad that the pay toilet–at least in North America–is at least one thing that was once ubiquitous, that has followed dinosaurs into extinction! But, shh, let’s not give anybody any ideas…
This is quite a while ago now, but one used to be able to get road maps for free at virtually any gas station in the US and Canada. Long gone now. Of course, how many of us use road maps anymore? Count me as one of the “fossils” who still does. On the other hand, with resources getting scarcer and scarcer, maybe it makes sense not to give paper maps away because of the very real cost in lost trees and other resources–such as energy–needed to produce the maps. One can still get free maps from tourist agencies, visitor and convention bureaus, and others, however. It may not be great for the environment, but it’s used as an incentive to attract tourists and other business.
And speaking of gas stations, try getting free air for your tires nowadays. Not so easy to find, is it?
Admission to many museums was once free, but that’s long since a thing of the past. The Smithsonian Institute’s many museums in Washington, DC are a notable exception, but, of course, like even a lot of the municipal and state museums that charge, we subsidize them with our taxes that is, those of us who _do_ pay taxes).
And directory assistance by dialing 411 or “information” as it was once called, used to be free, but hasn’t been for ages now. While we’re on the topic of information, appropriate fare for a library comic strip and related discussions, more and more newspapers limit access to their websites. The NY Times will provide 10 online articles per month free of charge, e.g., then shut the door unless you subscribe (not free). There are some work arounds.
This is only a real short list, but anyone want ot name some of the other lost freebies?
Oops! Even after I checked my overly long post above with a spell-checker, it and I missed one in the very last line where I wrote “ot” instead of “to!” I should have written,
“anyone want _to_ name some of the other lost freebies?”
Will this bag be a new Piece of “Library Comic” merchandise? This would be soooo great!