The Moment You Realize You, Too, Are a Spoiled American. Still the Blood Pressure Rises. It's a Moral Issue.

I arrived to DC - the Georgetown Hotel, actually on Georgetown University's campus. This is my disgruntled face as I am in the lobby frustrated with management. My colleagues told me I should just get over it and pay the internet fee, but I don't think it is right. $10 per device per room to have WiFi is simply criminal. It's like asking me to pay for oxygen.

Come on, greedy corporate America...really?
(Come on, spoiled, bratty Crandall...really?)

I mean, I could stay at numerous other facilities at half the price and they all have free wi-fi. Most have a pool, too.

Yet, in bourgeois bourgeois land (bougie bougie), those at the top recognize, "Well, let's charge people who come to us for the everyday use of Wi-Fi." They take advantage of scholarly meetings and national symposiums to slurp up cash for  pleasure. Let's charge them for use of the Internet in their room.

Um, seriously?

Earlier, when I arrived to my room steaming, I almost chugged the bottle of water they strategically placed in my room. Good thing I read the decorative label wrapped around it. It  said there'd be a $5 fee to replace that water bottle should I drink it. Screw them. For $5 I can get 24 bottles of water. It makes me sick that they do this (and I'm sure people pay it, too).

I am cheap. I have no problem being cheap. I think it is insane that they think this is okay. I was shocked that they act like I'm the first person in their hotel who has ever had a problem with this. I suppose most people who use such a hotel (parents bringing their kids to campus, businesses meeting in the area, scholars on duty) are used to sending the bill to their companies, so they don't mind the ridiculous fees. They're exploiting these people. I tend to work in a world of have-nots, so I'm hyper-conscious of the greed.

 I am always thinking economically, and when I think that it would cost me $30 a day to get my devices online (yes, I typically use three devices simultaneously), I get irate. I could travel like everyday Americans, not uppity uppity Americans and get free Wi-Fi. I could save this $30 and give it to a kid - a first-generation American - struggling to get by week to week as they're enrolled in college trying to make ends meet.

This is a class issue, and I'm not into putting up my appearances. I call insane INSANE when I see it. I did this in Disney World a few years ago at NCTE (When Appleman said we were all held hostage like it was Waco, Texas), and I wrote letters. They will get my letter, too. I will not return to this hotel nor will I recommend it for anyone else.

(and it's funny...if they put the internet fee into the room charge, I wouldn't even notice. Idiots).

What's worse is that I'm here for a Humanitarian conversation about human tragedies around the world: wars, famine, violence, etc. (which can be viewed on all the televisions in the lobby).
I'd rather save my money to be supportive of causes that make a difference, not spent to sanitize a vapid lobby with cheese DC paraphernalia. Robbing patrons is not a cause I stand for and believe in.

Ah, but I am in Washington. 

Free Wi-Fi. Come on, even the train has it now.