Buying a newspaper

is something we have done for as long as I can remember. 

The Senior Cat has always read at least one paper. There were times in his life when he read more than one. (You can do this quite quickly if you ignore the sports sections - and he did.) 

More recently I have had to read things to him. The print has been too small for him to see. Using a magnifier for a newspaper is not easy. Newspapers are designed to be read down in narrow columns. They are designed to accommodate the way we use our eyes when we read.  We have continued to get a paper version for his sake.

Yesterday I cancelled the subscription. We will no longer get a paper version. We will in fact no longer get a paper. I will have to read it in the library.

I would have gone with a digital subscription and using the Senior Cat's precious i-pad to tell him what was going on in the world but there was a problem. There was no way to pay for this. 

The Senior Cat no longer has a credit card. He doesn't need one. He rarely used it anyway. He has never paid interest on a credit card. If he couldn't pay for whatever he needed outright then he just didn't have it. The only thing he ever owed money on was the house. Yes of course he paid rent at times. He paid rent to the Education Department for many years but it was always paid on time because it was taken from his pay cheque. Anything else and he paid cash or wrote a cheque knowing precisely how much there was in his account to pay for something. 

I don't have a credit card either. I don't need one. Like the Senior Cat if I cannot pay for something then I don't get it. I don't own a car. I pay the bills which come in as they come in. I need to be very cautious about spending but, so far, I have been fortunate in being able to pay those bills and eat. Those are the things which matter. 

So, why no paper? It is because the company concerned will only take payment by credit card. They have no facilities to take payment by debit card. 

I find this extraordinary. They were so keen for us to continue the subscription that one of their representatives actually phoned me yesterday to discuss this. Yes, someone was working on this issue on a Sunday. But no the Senior Cat's debit card was unacceptable. My debit card was unacceptable. The post office debit card was unacceptable. 

I gave up. I suppose it wouldn't hurt me to have to pedal up the street each day and buy a paper but really that's not an environmentally responsible thing. It has worried me for some time that we have been getting it that way.  

Today I might see if the other useful paper will take a debit card for a digital subscription. It's a different company. It might.