Books are expensive

in Downunder. They attract what is known as "GST" - the Goods and Services Tax. 

Like everyone else I have been known to moan about "tax". I do see the necessity for it. We have to pay for things we can't provide on an individual basis and tax is how we get roads, transport, health services and much more. 

But a mistake was made when books were included. It was made because, although the publishing industry in this country is already extremely well protected by other means, someone thought taxing knowledge was a good idea.

At least we can now order books from overseas suppliers. That was almost impossible before the internet and the advent of online shopping. I once waited almost two years to buy a book I actually needed for a class I was teaching. It was a standard text book in linguistics. I remember someone else on the staff saying it was easier to get pornography!

An email popped up for me  yesterday telling me that a book I had ordered has arrived. It will come via a small supplier of knitting materials. It is not a knitting book but it is a text book. When I first heard about it I looked at the reviews. It is one of those rare books where there have not, to date, been any negative reviews posted by people I trust. I don't think there will be. I considered buying it at that point but it is a book published in the United States and even there it is expensive. Add the GST and the postage - very expensive - and the cost was prohibitive. I knew if I waited it would likely reach us. I alerted the likely supplier. Yes, a few copies had been ordered and the likely price was still high but I could save myself the most expensive postage if I was prepared to wait.  I was prepared to wait. 

It has been worth the wait too because I can now pick the book up from a private home just around the corner from me. I'll hand the money over to M...&R... and they will give me the book. We did this once before when I needed a packet of dye from the same supplier.

"Will M... and R... mind?" I asked. They are both retired. Their daughter lives in a separate dwelling on the same property and she is a craftswoman who sometimes works with the supplier. 

"Not at all," came the response. And I am sure they don't. The supplier helps to keep their daughter in business and they are helping their daughter by making the service available. It helps me too because I will use the book to teach a class later in the year. 

What is more important though is that M...and R...'s daughter has a range of medical issues which prevent her from working in outside employment. Working alone she can rest when she needs to rest, even sleep if she needs to sleep. She doesn't earn a lot but it gives her a sense of self-worth she would not otherwise have. 

It has worked out right around this time.