Poem: Telly on a meter by Andrea Wren

Picking up a flier on a council estate,
I see it offers me TV at an over-priced rate.
'Buy As You View' is the name with which it tempts,
its vulnerable customers to part with their rents.


Corrie by numbers, well, pounds if you must.
A tenner to watch the full omnibus!
Lord of the Rings? You'll need at least twenty,
and a series of Wife Swap will cost you plenty.


If cash runs low the debt gets higher.
Costs much more for the viewing you desire.
15 minutes of Oprah instead of half an hour.
Now the taste of Hell's Kitchen turns exceptionally sour


Coin slot television - has the world gone absurd?
Ethical boundaries have become all blurred.
The poorest people are the ones who get caught,
shiny wrapper quickly falls from the contract they've bought


Trapped into a scheme which offers little hope
of ever watching the end of your favourite soap.
Or laying claim to the TV as something you own -
it remains forever yours on a never-ending loan.

© Andrea Wren 2009 - All rights reserved.

Comments

[Al]

Like it. Actually I seem to remember coin slot tellies from 70s. I think they may have had them in B&Bs and places. I had totally forgotten about them!

[Andrea]

Cheers Al :-) Coin slot tellies still exist, though - and I found a thread on MoneySaving Expert which was heart-breaking in relation to how once people have a contract they just get totally ripped off in these schemes.