Bottle tax: Nothing new there. Sale-priced cases of bottled water get a steep return policy as each bottle adds a little more to the state coffers. Maybe someone should go through home recycling bins and see what a good job the plastic water drinkers are doing about recycling. They don’t even get the nickel back!
What about the person who walks into a bagel shop and wants the bagel to go, but “please cut it first.” No problem: There’s a tax for that! Yes, New York legislators (AKA, Albany) have figured out a way to add more dough to the tax pile. A whole bagel is only free of excise if you take it to go. If you’re thinking a bagel, a schmear, and some wi-fi, you’re adding money to the limited state coffers. BTW, sliced loaves of bakery bread are free of this extra change charge; at least for now!
How else is everyone coping? Lots of small restaurants, which are struggling considerably during this personal cash-strapped economic doom and gloom, are posting signs that the days of credit cards are over. Cash only, please. That’s an easy one to get. Small businesses wind up giving away huge chunks of money to credit card companies. This is their private crusade. Consumers can find their local ATM branch (otherwise, the “other” bank will add insult to injury) and get cash to help the small guy stay in business.
In a city like New York, cash only has been a common refuge for many small businesses over the years, not just now during this latest downturn. Often the surprise of no credit cards comes at the end of the meal when the bill is stamped, Cash Only. Nothing new with the policy just the increased prevalence!
Let’s think about some other taxes we can help states implement:
–One that would have an immediate following is the sit tax as in, hey, you’ve been sitting at that table too long, and I have nowhere to sit and eat lunch. Unplug and go or cough up $10. That has real possibilities.
–How about charging people for sticking their fingers in the olives at the olive bar, double-dipping at the chip and guacamole taste platter, or ignoring the clean implement pile and tossing the used toothpick on the platter instead of the trash can? Maybe a tasting fee with a little napkin might help the store avoid the health police.
The free lunch is over. Slicing my bagel, seriously, do you just have a plastic knife?
Hard times. Thanks, Dickens.
It was a big announcement, and one we were happy to welcome. Likely one that will be widely imitated as no food processor wants to be the evil king. We’re talking high fructose corn syrup–HFCS–the evil darling of so many products. It’s what creates flavor for many foods. It’s the sweet we’ve become used to or maybe the reason we crave a sweet taste. Or maybe one of the primary factors contributing to obesity.
Those teeny tiny handfuls of nuts with the good antioxidant characteristics have not been doing the trick. We enjoyed the product and even thought we were lowering cholesterol fears, but no, not enough.
