I paid bills yesterday, but I did not pay the water bill. Just the thought of it is making me thirsty. The reason I didn’t pay the water bill is because they didn’t send one. What they sent me was their own version of the “easy button.”
Just like many other companies, they want me to sign up for paperless billing and pay my bills online. They sent me instructions for how to create my online account and included lots of hype about how much easier and convenient the online process is. It’s gaslighting from the water company. I guess the water company isn’t going to let the gas company get ahead of them.
What ticks me off about this whole thing is the way the water company tried to make this sound like it’s for my benefit. It’s not. Clearly, it’s easier for them if I pay it online. They don’t have to deal with mailing statements or processing checks and bank deposits. For me, it’s a bigger pain. Imagine if all my bills had to be paid online. Instead of logging in once to my bank account and paying all my bills there, now I have to log in to each utility, each credit card company, each account, figure out how much I owe, then make the payment at each one. This is supposed to be easier for me? I’m not buying it.
This world is full of people who will try to convince you that what is good for them, is good for you. Many times it just isn’t so. It’s the oldest trick in the book, literally. It is the familiar story “In the beginning” when the devil convinced Adam and Eve that his evil agenda was in their best interest. He was the very first “Gaslighter,” lit by the flames of hell, and he’s been gaslighting people ever since.
Unfortunately, plenty of people have learned the same trick. They have bought the devil’s lies and continue to pass them on. They gaslight those who make them feel guilty, trying to convince them to give up on “unreasonable” standards of faith, righteousness, and commitment. Don’t become a victim of that scheme. Seek the truth while you can. Live the life you know is right and don’t allow the low life to pull you down, because sooner or later, the bill always comes due.