My E-R readers will love this

Recently, I ordered something from Amazon for $149 with possible free shipping.  The "catch" was, you have to sign up for an additional service to be eligible for the bonus shipping.  Even though their "Amazon Prime" is "free" for the first month, I resent having to track it, test it, and cancel it in time so as not to be billed later on. 

All shopping has turned into a series of "catches."  There was a time when the price was the price, and you bought something or you didn't.  I remember Poeder's (say "pooders") Market, a mom and pop grocery a block from my childhood home.  Poeder was a grumpy old man, and I never saw mom, but his prices were about the same as those at the larger, cleaner store two blocks away in the opposite direction.  Signs in the windows in most stores didn't announce sales as much as they tried to induce you to buy stuff they had overstocked.

[My friend and I used to play "I spy" at night, looking through Poeder's window until we began to realize the things we saw that  began with "r," and "m" most often were rats and mice.  He went out of business.]

Today, I am most irritated by the constant print advertising I receive weekly which changes the price of, specifcally, Diet Caffeine Free Pepsi from anywhere between $2.50 and $2.98 per carton of 12 oz cans.  Sometimes, it's "buy two cartons at some unspecified higher price and receive two or even three free."  Sometimes it's three for $10, or four for $11.

Shopping has become a giant elementary school arithmetic problem.  Why do they do that?

[This portion did not fit in the 250 word limit, but I like it.]