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business newsThe 4700-Dollar Verizon Bill
By
Scott Reeves Apr 13, 2009 10:18 am
Brief scrutiny of today's headlines.
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A father in Cheyenne, Wyoming used this impeccable logic with his daughter, and her grades improved, the Denver Post reports.
Gregg and Jaylene Christoffersen thought the texting function had been turned off on their daughter’s new cell phone. Guess what? It wasn’t, and the family got billed for each outgoing and incoming text message.
Their 13-year-old daughter, Dena, apparently sent most of the text messages while at school - about 300 a day. Keep in mind that each "OMG!" demanded a reply from a friend - and the meter was always running.
The girl’s grades dropped to F's from A's and B's. The reason why was a mystery - until the phone bill arrived. The parents went nuts - $4,756.25 is real money, even without a recession.
In addition to losing her phone to a terrible, swift hammer blow, the young girl was grounded until the end of the school year. She says she’s learned her lesson.
Luckily, the family says Verizon (VZ) agreed to knock the bill down to a “reasonable” level.
This raises basic questions: How can a student possibly spend her day at school texting friends without anyone noticing during, say, algebra class? Might texting be part of the reason for the decline in students’ writing skills? Wouldn’t the world be a better place -- and wouldn’t SAT scores be higher -- if kids just passed handwritten notes?
Mr. Christoffersen’s swing-the-hammer response to the huge bill may point the way as the deadline for paying city, state and federal income taxes approaches. If your local pols spend too much, or spend your tax dollars foolishly, ground ‘em.
LMAO!
No positions in stocks mentioned.
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