This has to be said...

So, I just got back from my lunch. I decided to stay out and eat, and figured I'd occupy my time with catching up on the newspaper. Historically speaking, I'm a big newspaper guy. I used to buy two daily, ESPECIALLY in my commuting years where I had lots of train time. It got to where I could strategically fold a paper and still rock my Su Doku whilst standing shoulder to shoulder in a rush hour subway car. Plus, I'm just old school about the hands-on experience. Don't get me wrong, I pull plenty from the internet and what not, but I've just always liked my newspapers.

Since I've been here, my hard copy consumption has dramatically slowed down. I'm not really feeling the L.A. Times, and more than anything, my commute is driven. So for the sake of not killing myself or others, I begrudgingly don't read behind the wheel (though I DO play air guitar, and tap some fat polyrhythms on the dash over the latin jazz show on my drive home). Meanwhile, my treasured Sunday ritual of crossword/coffee/bagel has been largely forsaken, seeing as I've yet to even come close to finding a satisfactory bagel. Content wise, I miss the 4-inch letter, tabloid headlines on the front and back pages, and general sensationalism. I saw the NY papers go nuts over the A-Rod scandal, or should I say, the "Play-Rod," "Stray-Rod," "Yankee Doodle Randy" scandal. I miss that stuff.

But today at lunch, I was reminded of the final dagger, dividing me from newsprint. While waiting for my lunch, I dart over to the 7-11 to grab a paper (since corner newsstands are essentially non-existant). Grab my Times, pull out my 2 quarters. Oh. Right. THEY CHARGE TAX ON THE NEWSPAPER HERE. Fitty-four freakin' cents. That just chafes me. Newspapers are supposed to be bought and sold with quarters. Multiples of 25 cents. EEEEvery once in a while, perhaps a dime increment can be tolerated. 25 cents, up to 35, kind of thing. Fifty-four cents?!?! That's just fundamentally wrong. I can honestly say I'd wrather pay 60 cents before 54, just for the "privilege" of keeping it silver. "We pay tax on everything else, why not the paper?" Because, that's why. It's wrong. Just wrong. Or if we MUST pay tax, make the price 46 cents, so with tax it's 50.