Nickel & Dimed at Vendoland
I'm a Pepsi drinker by upbringing. I was raised on the stuff. My great-grandmother drank a Pepsi a day and lived to be 98 years old. She was buried with a Pepsi at her side. Mt. Dew is my Pepsi-product of choice - you'll find me with a Diet Dew in hand (or very near my hand) most of every day.
Much to my disgruntlement, the University of Minnesota sells only Coca-Cola products in its vending machines. The past three years of grad school have been tough when the caffeine bug hits and I've run out of my own supply. Darn those exclusive contracts! I've learned to tolerate Cherry Coke. I've comforted myself with the fact that I was paying only 65 cents per can. As of July 1, however, this one cold comfort has come to an end. I now must pay 75 cents to consume a beverage I don't even really enjoy. They've also jacked up the price on animal crackers, my snack-of-choice-in-a-pinch, to 85 cents as opposed to the former 80 cents. You can still buy a bag of M&Ms for 80 cents, so I fail to understand why a bag of generic animal crackers should cost more than chocolate!
It may sound like nickels and dimes to you, but this is a boycott-worthy cause if I ever saw one. Now if I could just dig that last dime out of my wallet, I could buy that damn can of Cherry Coke...