Onion Tax & UPS Steals Packages

Anecdotal evidence of Depression II. All costs are passed on to the customer:

Inside Job @ UPS

A young woman who works in my neighborhood UPS store told me she had two shipped packages stolen by her fellow employees. One was a cell phone she sent out for repair; the other was a purchase from Best Buy. She said 8 people in the UPS hub had been fired for theft since Christmas. “It’s a big problem,” she told me. “The recession.”

Onion Tax

At the Frontier Diner on 39th Street & Third Avenue, I ordered a feta-and-spinach omelette, asking for “Egg whites only, please." The waiter said, "One dollar extra.” “Okay,” I allowed (budget buster balanced by positive health move). “Also I’ll have some tomato and onion.” “A dollar extra. For each item,” he said, pointing to the menu, where sure enough, every additional ingredient was a dollar extra.

This wasn’t a build-your-own-salad bar; this was a diner, f’Chrissakes. What’s next, extra for the fatty substance to cook the omelette in? A rental fee for a porcelain plate & metal utensils instead of paper/plastic? (An extra charge for lightening the carbon footprint. Very green both ways.)