Had to break down and get the book. Anyone else read it in hopes of reaching the unreachable child? Let me know what you thought of it.

Since I work for a credit union, I’ve gotten this question a few times from friends and family. Here’s my take:

Swiping your debit or credit card puts a lot of things in motion that you don’t know about. In short, small amounts of money to fund that transaction change ownership on a lot of levels.

• It’s why Mastercard, Discover, AmEx  and Visa do their business.
• It’s how your credit union or bank are able to offset the costs of offering you the cards for free (yes, they have a lot of expenses associated with that piece of plastic you carry).
• It’s a price that merchants have traditionally been glad to pay in return for getting more sales, reducing human errors over cash exchange and minimizing losses over things like employee theft of robberies.

You should care because without it, you’ll lose a lot of the conveniences you’ve enjoyed and probably taken for granted. If your credit union or bank loses this revenue stream, they must offset costs elswhere. That means you’ll probably see:

• The end of free and high interest checking accounts
• Annual fees for your debit or credit card
• More storefront robberies –> because there will be more cash on hand –> because of less card usage

Will it help the economy? Probably not. Will it make people rich? absolutely. Will it help struggling consumers like you and I? Not a chance in hell.

The prevailing thought is that putting caps in place or allowing merchants to negotiate rates will ultimately help the consumer because it will produce lower costs on goods and services (since the merchant has a lower cost). Do you honestly think that will happen? Me neither. Want proof? Here’s a start:

In Australia, where regulators imposed price controls on interchange in 2003, fees paid by merchants have fallen but consumers have seen no reduction in the prices that they pay. And where merchants have been permitted to impose surcharges on credit users, the surcharge can, and often does, substantially exceed the interchange fee cost.

I wrote this one many years back, but I recent Facebook conversation compelled me to present it here. Enjoy.

Penny Candies

On a mission
down to the ole’ bait shop –
but I ain’t fishin’.

I walk a familiar path…
passing the same homes and skipping
over the same sidewalk cracks

as I make my way to a favorite
hometown destination.
The golden dog barks as I near the place,
the cars guzzle fuel on this side, so

I cross over and land in front of the tavern
where folks of many kind like to meet.
I turn the corner and to my heart’s content
The door is open, inviting me inside.

I hop onto the concrete porch and stop
to view the vending machine selection.
Finally, I rush on in. The same ole’ guy is there.
He welcomes me with a knowing smile

and a down home “how ya doin today.”
“Fine” I say as I blaze a path in my wake.
I grab a small paper sack and reach
a fistful of candy, as much as I can take.

Then, with dollar in hand, I tell the man
“One-hundred pieces” though I went over a few.
He smiles and says “One dollar.”
I hand over the cash and leave real fast.

Two quarters left, I make for the machines.
I insert the coins and punch the button.
The can falls fast and crashes hard.
I grab it, shake, and open quick; guzzling

guzzling, guzzling the Chocola until
it is no more. I with the empty can in tote
journey home, eating my one-hundred
penny candies, and have no other cares.

Although I am at the very tail end of Gen-X and have claimed to not be a by-product of that generation, I am coming to the realization that I am indeed very much a Gen-Xer. I’m sorry for abondoning you and do hope you will accpet me.

I love the way you speak to me,
and tell me what I cannot hear.

I love the way you speak to me,
and show me what I cannot see.

When I become so full of this world,
You sober my soul,
and bring me back to You.

When I fall on my face,
or stumble in my walk,
You are there to lift me up.

May I ever focus my life on You,
mighty Lord.
Speak to me the way…
the way only You can do.

Because I’ll always know,
there’s no other rock
than the Rock that is You.

Isaiah 44:8
Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

Dear Santa-

I didn’t write you a letter this year. It’s not I have lost ability to believe or that I have become even more cynical (yeah, I don’t think it’s possible either). But the truth is that I am content in my own life and am afraid of losing that.

It seems that any time I have gotten greedy, I’ve lost it all.

My life is blessed with a good family and good friends. I’m not wealthy, but I have enough. I’ve enjoyed being able to serve many others this year and that has been a wonderful blessing too.

I guess if I were to have asked for anything, it would have been to help me continue to build upon this newfound contentment with an ability to never expect more. I know that sounds hypocritical – I mean how could you want to build more but not expect more, right?

But here’s the thing: 2009 was a real struggle for me in many ways.

I felt worn down and tired for most of it. Depression sucks! It’s lonely, confusing and downright frustrating. It steals any ambition and makes you miserable. Just a few months ago, I probably would have asked for those feelings to simply go away.

Todya, I’m overcoming it and am enjoying relatively good health, which is allowing me to have a better attitude about everything. And when your attitude is moving you in the right direction, you can be more accepting of whatever comes your way. Sure, I have bad days, but nothing like I had.

So I guess my humble request is that I can continue to maintain my health and that my family can do the same. Unfortunately, I don’t think good health is something you or your elves can build in a workshop.

And that’s the real reason I didn’t write you this year.

I turned to Jesus instead!

Best wishes,

Chad

This is a fine day for the baseball world. I say that because from the depths of the steroid era ballyhoo that has grown all too common, a true baseball great in Andre Dawson has finally received his much deserved call.

In truth, Andre Dawson was THE player that made me into a true Cubs fan. It wasn’t Sammy, Sandberg or Cey or Jody Davis or even Rick Sutcliff. It certainly was’t Larry Bowa, Vance Law or Thad Bosley – yeah, I went Thad Bosley on your a$$!

It was the Hawk!

The hard working Trotter who did what was asked of him – even if it were to his own personal detriment – simply for the sake of the team.

For my money, nobody did it better and I am overjoyed to see hin finally rewarded appropriately.

Congrats Andre.

No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more, or did it better than Andre Dawson. ~ Ryne Sandberg

See also:

• 1988 Topps Andre Dawson
• My Slugger
• More About Dawson . . . A True Role Model

I’m happy to introduce you to the new theme here at Free Range Thinker. I duh-zined it meself (I even took the picture of the dragon fly)! Let me know what you think.

Something simple. Something easy. Something fun, yet civil. I’ll probably work on that sometime soon.

That is all.