Yesterday I was thirsty and the water fountain just wasn’t cutting it, so I headed to the vending machine armed with a dollar bill and a quarter anticipating the ice-cold Dasani that would soon serve my drinking pleasure. I put in the money and pushed the button, but the machine wouldn’t give it up. Why? Because the vending gods raised prices again. This means I needed another quarter. I borrowed the only quarter I had from a friend because I never carry around change and it was just happenstance that I had a dollar bill on me given that I almost always use a debit card. I guess no one informed the vending machine people that plastic is the way of the future.

Now, this price increase really isn’t a big deal but it’s definitely annoying considering how much I pay in tuition plus the various fees that the university tacks onto my bill. Part of my tuition goes to the computer labs on campus.

It’s interesting that the only drinks allowed in those computer labs are bottled drinks and what is sold in these vending machines that are practically stealing the change from my couch cushions? Bottled drinks.

This might be a coincidence or a conspiracy, but who am I to judge? I’m just a humble student trying to get a degree and I might grab a soda pop on the way.

If I’m so pissed off about the price increase then I probably should boycott the vending machines. Well, that’s easy enough for me to do.

I have an apartment with a refrigerator and a car to go to the grocery store. It’s the poor little freshmen that are really the victims of this price gauge.

The university requires all incoming freshmen to live in dorms on campus and some of them may not own a car, therefore obliging them to succumb to the rising prices of Snickers and Dr Pepper.

Maybe they don’t need them anyway. They can just drink the delicious tap water out of their dorm room faucet that hasn’t been cleaned in God knows how long and they don’t have to be hungry after Caf Belvin closes for the evening.

The price we pay for convenience just keeps growing, but is our convenience getting any more convenient? No. I will be okay with raising prices in vending machines when it opens my water, pours it in my mouth and tells me to have a fantastic day.