Free as in...

We just got back from India two weeks ago. While we were there, we got ourselves an Indian SIM card for our mobile, which worked perfectly fine. Sweet and easy. The only strange thing was that after nearly every phone call we received an SMS advertising some useless competition or such. Blech.

Well, now we're back, and need a different SIM. Fine, again no real sweat. Pay-as-you go will do fine, signed up and all is nice. Walking out of the store, maybe 200 yards down the road, the mobile rings. What gives ? No one has the new number yet. I receive the call, and.. well, of course. It's an ad. 500 free SMS messages if I call this number. At home, I check the terms and conditions. Sure, there it is. By accepting the 500 free messages, I am in fact signing up to a monthly service which will cost me £ 1.50 a week. For whatever, more ads, more rubbish. But the SMS's are free. Sure. They are free, other than the fact that you have to pay for them.

I love that. I dream of applying for a job in one of these companies. When it comes to discussing my payment, I'll just say 'oh, yes. I'll work for free, sure.' Everybody laughs, we're all happy. All they have to do is adhere to the terms and conditions. £ 50 an hour. Other than that, my services are free.