An end run around propriety?

A deceptive mailing, IMHO
OK I won't give the name of the company but it's in the water quality business. Got a card in the mail this past week that took about 30 seconds to assess. I'm holding it in front of me now: "Softener notice" it says in large type at the top. Hmmm.
My first thought: it's a notice pertaining to the upcoming transition in water treatment. Aren't we all expecting some special communications on this? So, I'd better call the number on the card, right? Wait a minute. Hmmm. I see there's the name of a company, not an arm of government. Government I trust, private business not so much.
Might this card be in the same category as scam phone calls? That could be a stretch but maybe not. Senior citizens can be prone to misunderstanding things. Wait a minute, I'm 64 years old. If the shoe fits. . .
Oh, but I think I was able to see through this card. It's a card from the company encouraging us to do business with them, which is what private companies do. I thought there might be an alert in the current Morris paper, maybe from the city office, warning us to be aware of such promos. But no, I don't see one. The card says "limited time offer." Oh, we'd better hurry up! Oh, I think not. We need to wait until the city informs us how to proceed with our softeners, whether we'll even need them any more! Hold on to your money.
 
Speaking of holding on to your money
Just saw the ad in the Morris fishwrap about Mother's Day brunch at Stone's Throw Cafe. I do admire the spirit of that restaurant. I disapprove of the prices when one considers that food price inflation is in fact going on, so let's try to temper it a little, instead of pouring lighter fluid on the flames, eh?
Twenty-five bucks for the brunch? Where does it stop? Don's Cafe has raised the price of breakfasts by 50 cents. Up and up and up. And if President Trump gets his way packing the Federal Reserve board, interest rates will be pushed down to zero which will accelerate all types of inflation. Plus, the new tariffs in the growing trade war will accelerate inflation.
I was around in the 1970s and I know how scary inflation can be, Kemosabe. Michael Kinsley once wrote that inflation comes along once every generation. We forget how ominous it can be, so we get lax regarding it, then it takes off which scares us s--tless. Something drastic then happens like Paul Volcker putting on his cape to take over the Federal Reserve. He warned us we'd have to take a bad recession. We swallowed that pill and eventually got past it all. It's not something we should ever seek.
I wonder how young families are dealing with all the inflation issues. I just don't know how they do it. So, $25 for the Mother's Day brunch at Stone's Throw. I'm sorry, that's unreasonable even for "farm to table." This restaurant has tapped into GoFundMe.
 
On a related matter:
Please check your receipts at Willie's to make sure you're being charged the posted price. I had to go back and get a 20-cent refund last week. Occasionally I'll get a Red Baron classic crust pizza and Sunkist soft drink which comes to $5.90. I'll have this as an early supper occasionally and it's a good value, but maybe not quite as good anymore.
We can feel like pulling our hair out sometimes. We'll think that prices settle into a nice predictable groove for a time, like my $5.90 for the pizza and pop. Not only is/was it a good value, the four $1 bills I get as change were handy for tipping restaurant servers over the next few days. (I initially typed "waitresses" but we ought to use the gender-neutral term.)
So, I go through checkout at Willie's one day last week and it's over six bucks. So I get three $1 bills, not the usual four. Not that this devastates me but it's a matter of principle. So I go back to double-check items. The Sunkist pop was supposed to cost $1.79 - the clearly-marked price. On my receipt on this day, I could see I was charged $1.99. The 20 cents difference isn't the issue - the issue is the trend of food/drink price inflation and keeping an eye on it. If the trend builds much more, we will start to hear more about it in the media.
I found a responsible store employee and showed her the receipt. She took me over where the pop was displayed. She then directed a checkout person to refund me 20 cents.
We need to try to get the brakes applied on food price inflation. This has been evident at our McDonald's restaurant. For the first time, I have seen the price of a standard burger/fries meal go over $10, to $10.04. That's the double quarter pounder meal. Yes, I know we can have the regular quarter pounder meal. This is what food inflation can force us to do. But it's no fun to live that way.
Will people start rising up to express concern? Maybe we could elect a president who keeps the normal hands-off with the Federal Reserve. There's some old wisdom: "Don't fight the Fed." Zero interest rates would also kill the interest I get on my savings, so it would be a double-whammy for me. Is this what we elect a president for, to make our lives more difficult?
The tariffs will help the steel industry in Pennsylvania, apparently. But what about the farmers of North Dakota? North Dakota people seem locked in with voting Republican like it's now in their DNA. Can that change? You'd be surprised how things can change in politics.

Addendum: I communicated with a friend just now on the Stone's Throw thing. He responded:

Yeah, I saw that M’Day brunch price as well. Holy Moley – I can’t imagine paying $50 (for a couple) for something like that. Maybe they’re trying to make up their debt in one day.
  
This friend and I had reason to muse also about a particular "cute" girl we'd known in high school here in Morris. I broadened this topic to wonder what it's like being parents in a family with multiple "cute" girls. I had a particular family in mind. They didn't choose to wear this mantle, it just happened. How to define "cute?" Can't do that. My friend opined:

I really don’t have any idea what it’s like growing up as a sexy girl. Or, for that matter, growing up at all. 
 
Addendum #2: A charge of $10.04 is annoying when you're paying with cash. Paying with plastic renders all payments easy at least in terms of the process. I like the discipline and acuity that comes with paying cash on a regular basis. It makes us more conscious of what we're spending. Just watch, this attribute will become more important.
 
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com