…and the bills are coming in the mail. Once again, I am reminded that American business can no longer afford to place high quality glue on their envelopes, so we can mail our payments in without having to scotch-tape the envelopes shut for safety. Are they really getting that cheap, that the .0024 cents they save on glue (per envelope) is somehow going to make them more profitable. Is this how these captains of industry exercise their entrepreneurial genius?

When they want you to order their product, or subscribe to their service, they provide you with an envelope equipped with high quality glue. And they pay the postage! But when you pay the bill, you not only have to provide your own seal, but you have to use your own stamp as well. (The most arrogant and insulting words in the English language are “Affix stamp here. The post office will not deliver mail without postage.”)

I suppose what they really want is for us to pay electronically, or even better, pay automatically by giving them the authority to help themselves from our bank account. Do they really think that I am going to give electronic access to my savings, that I would trust to manage that access effectively, to an outfit that thinks they are saving money by providing me with cheap glue?