The common citizen always pays

I've already paid four fees since I started getting my "free" annual checkups. But no problem, I, the unemployed person who pays for my own health insurance, can pay for everything.
The results are not good, either because of the low quality of life or because of the low quality material and labor in the laboratory. Maybe I'll find out why if I pay a few more fees. Or not. In any case, I pay for everything. Like any ordinary person... with no money.

I remember when I went to Belgium in 2012, how strange it was to see cars on the streets with their old license plates. There have been no such in Bulgaria for a long time. Bulgaria introduced the change of registration plates after 1999, even 8 years before the admission to the European Union. After admission to the union, the license plates changed again, but this difference was not significant and a complete change of numbers was not required again. Everything seems to have been foreseen since 1999, someone will say. But I will say that this is simply an embezzlement, a collection of money that the state has decided to collect from innocent citizens. Something insignificant, which, as you can see, even the rich countries have not done, but Bulgaria, the great poorest country in Europe, "should" have done.

Now they are changing the identity cards, introducing new ones with biometric data. The prices are almost double. Again some idea of ​​collecting money from people.
They interviewed a few days ago people from the queues for changing documents, people who came from abroad only for this reason. One woman shared that in the USA, where she lives, this procedure takes 10 minutes and costs 10 dollars, while here she had to wait 2 hours for the expedited procedure, which for the new documents will cost more than 80 dollars. But she, this woman, said something very interesting, something like: "I'm going (home - in America) anyway" (I only came here to change my documents). And I completely understand this negative attitude.

Then I remember how in 2012 I had to make a bank transfer to Italy, which cost me in fees more than half of the amount I was transferring. And these charges went on for a few months, so at one point when my account was empty, the bank officials kept calling me asking when I was going to fund it so they could keep charging.
When I got to Belgium that year, I found out with amazement that there are no such fees for transfers there, that there are no fees at all. Regardless of whether it is a transfer of money to a private account abroad, whether it is a transfer to a legal entity abroad, or whether it is a purchase of goods.
Now, of course the transfer fees are not like the ones before. They are much smaller, but they are there. And when I finally changed my bank to one without fees - the only one in Bulgaria, I feel even a little uncomfortable. How come I won't pay, we are used to paying for everything, very high prices and very high fees. And this is visible in the stores. Everywhere.

Someone had recently compared the prices of certain identical goods in the same food chains in Germany and Bulgaria. Guess where it's cheaper. 😁
And when you add to this the traditionally lower quality of other products, also at an increased price, which are sold on the Bulgarian market, the situation becomes even more beautiful.

Now, with the impending entry into the European Economic Area, banks have started to come up with new tricks. They will probably remove the transaction fees, but increase the monthly fees to bring them in line with Western European ones. They are currently running fundraising campaigns that sound like this: prepare for the adoption of the euro by depositing all your savings with us for FREE (because depositing funds in the bank also has a fee). This is our offer on the occasion of the arrival of the euro.
OMG!
It's simply: give us all your money. Nothing more.

Banks will always be in a winning position regardless of how the economic environment changes. Just like the telecommunications companies that saw huge growth and profits during the recession in recent years. They always find a way to deal with inflation and crisis, at the expense of their consumers, the common people, by increasing the monthly fees every year in line with inflation, and every 2 years the monthly fees increase anyway with the re-signing of the two year contract. There is no such thing as: "I want to reduce my monthly payment". I plan to make a separate post on this topic. And if you have heard that in some countries they give free phones when signing or re-signing the contract, this is not the case in Bulgaria. Until recently, they gave some discounts, but honestly, I don't know if they were discounts at all, because I never compared their prices with those of other stores. Only this year I compared them and saw that theirs were about 100 BGN/50 EUR above the prices of the other stores for the phones I was checking. And they also refused to give me any discount this year, so yes, they always find a way to make up for one thing or another with higher prices or denying a discount. At the expense of the poor ordinary consumer who has been taught to simply pay. Without questioning, without contradicting, without challenging this pathetic status quo of arm-twisting and blackmailing the common man.

Thank you for your time! Copyright:	@soulsdetour
	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.

Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|