The Best Things in Life Cost Money

Frank Sinatra used to croon the following lovely song:

The moon belongs to everyone,
The best things in life are free.
The stars belong to everyone,
They gleam there for you and me.
The flowers in spring, the robins that sing,
The moonbeams that shine,
They're yours, they're mine.
And love can come to everyone,
The best things in life are free.

Frank would probably have to rethink the lyrics if he was still alive today. The USA would probably declare ownership of the moon since they have staked their flag on the lunar soil and the ownership of the stars is likely on the agenda of a future G-20 summit. Picking wild flowers in spring is illegal and the robin population is becoming endangered. Moonbeams are a non-profitable resource so no one cares if they are free and love can be purchased by phone, online or in person, globally. So, not much in life is really free any more!

Each day I am impacted by the fact that just about everything now costs money. When I fly, if I pre-select a seat I must pay for the privilege. If I should be bold enough to want to carry baggage I must pay a fee for each suitcase I take. If I pay my baggage fee at the airport, I am charged another fee for that service. If I had paid online there would not have been a charge. How generous! We have now invented a fee, for the privilege of paying a fee!

Times are really becoming desperate. Pretty soon water and air will no longer be free. Come to think of it, a 500 ml bottle of water costs over a dollar and as a result a gallon of drinking water now costs nearly ten dollars – far more than the price of gasoline. And a recent trip to a service station introduced me to an air pump, to fill up my car tire, for only one dollar a shot! So “the best things in life are free” notion has reached its ultimate demise, as we must now pay for air and water. Can a charge for breathing be far away?

Sinatra’s happy ballad needs to be rewritten. Perhaps it might begin with:

Nothing belongs to everyone,
Everything cost some loot,
A bus ride costs two fifty, and
Parking a buck a foot.

The best things in life cost money
Nothing is really free,
The world is getting greedy, and
Overcharging both you and me!

Chorus: Do be do be do
Be do be
Do be do be do!