Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I was a poor student, they reimbursed me later.  They put me on a cab after the interview and I think I had $30 in cash, and saw the can meter running past that.  The cab driver said not to worry about it, he took me all the way, wouldn’t give me his name.

Then I got to my car and didn’t have money to pay for parking.  

To me back then, $80 was a LOT of money, and places didn’t take credit cards much.  And my student Visa was maxed and then some.  

Now my wife pays $22/month for unlimited minutes and data through Pure Talk.

How do y'all like it?  I've briefly looked at Pure Talk and couple others like them.  Biggest question is new phones.  The cost of phones kind of gets folded into your monthly bill for a while with major carriers.  How does it work with outfits like Pure Talk?  Because I'm basically required to have a smart phone for work, wife as well, and paying $800 each out of pocket for new phones every few years would be rough.  

Of course, and it’s not as if corporate greed just appeared suddenly.  It has been part of the economy for 250 years.

the damper is competition. 

And they've been improving it and weaponizing it the whole time.  Influencing politicians, getting the rules slanted in their favor, etc.  They've just gotten more radical lately as congress has absolutely forfeited any pretense of ethics.  

You guys can poo-poo it all you want, but you know it's true, it's getting worse, and as members of the 'in' group, you can just brush me aside.  Cool.  None of that makes anything I say any less true.  

Until citizen's united is reversed, none of it matters.  Undercut Subway?  How many hundreds or thousands have tried that?  They'll get some deal with the bread or chicken or tomato provider for temporarily-cheaper pricing, enough to outlast any small-time competition.  They can outlast anyone.  Same with Walmart putting out every small shop near it.  
I bet 20 years ago, you actually cared about that.  But now you're older, richer, and shrug.  
I hope to never "mature" that way.  It's disgusting.  

The current boomers are the most selfish whores to the dollar in human history.  Mine mine mine.  Fuck the future, because you won't be here for it.  
Yes, it's all connected.  No, I don't expect you to admit it.  
Just keep hording your advantages and delaying progress for the rest of the people.  You're good at that.

Geesh, someone got upset.   

Geesh, someone got upset. 

For no reason.

I hope to never "mature" that way.  It's disgusting. 

as Roger Daltrey said, "I hope I die before I get old"

and "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

Undercut Subway?  How many hundreds or thousands have tried that?  They'll get some deal with the bread or chicken or tomato provider for temporarily-cheaper pricing, enough to outlast any small-time competition.  They can outlast anyone.  Same with Walmart putting out every small shop near it. 
I bet 20 years ago, you actually cared about that.  But now you're older, richer, and shrug. 
I hope to never "mature" that way.  It's disgusting. 

BTW I'm 14 years too young to even be at the end of the Boomer generation. 

But there's an extent that I *do* care about this. As it relates to fast food? I don't eat it. (Obviously there are exceptions, but they're rare.) While I don't eat at restaurants all that often, I eat at independent restaurants FAR more often than I'm going to chains. And when I do go to chains, they're typically not the mega-chain restaurants. I.e. I can't remember the last time I've eaten at an Applebee's, or TGI Fridays, or anything like that. 

There are independent restaurants all across the country. Including sandwich shops. The barriers to entry are miniscule. And there are Subway chain competitors as well. According to Google, Subway's market share has declined ~10% since 2019. The two Subway locations that were close to me, in fact, have closed. I know how much you LOVE anecdotal data, so I'll bolster that with the NY Post: Subway locations nationwide declined from a peak over 27,000 in 2016 to under 20,000 at the end of 2024. 

So although you think that all big corporations are just monoliths that can control everything... Subway is getting their asses kicked.