Tough times in Brunswick County

To the editor: I recently went to a restaurant in Shallotte with a very good friend for breakfast and fellowship. The meal didn’t give me heart failure, but the check did. I will not darken their door again.

I had my propane gas tank filled two weeks ago. The bill seemed high to me, so I called a couple of competitors. The first was 20 cents a gallon (or pound) cheaper and the second was 30 cents cheaper.

I will be ending a long time relationship with my gas company very soon.

I just returned from a trip to Winston-Salem. I stopped in Lexington to fill up with gasoline. I paid $1.49 a gallon for the gas. The same brand of gas at my local station here is $1.77 a gallon. Is it better gasoline? Do I get better mileage with theirs?

My son and his wife are hard working young people. They would very much like to buy a modest home here and raise their children here. They can’t even afford the down payment here, much less the home.

The same home two counties west of here is $100,000 cheaper and it has county water, sewer and paved streets.

I recently saw a news article that showed a pile of electric tools at a local pawnshop. It said the work force was pawning their tools here and leaving this county. It said there was little or no work for them. Gosh, I wonder why?

I have a friend who is a real estate sales lady. She can’t sell a house. She says no one wants to pay the ridiculous prices here.

I can’t understand the merchants in this area. Don’t they realize we would help keep their business afloat during these hard times if they would stop gouging us and give us a good deal on a decent product?

Very soon, the loyal customer will be a thing of the past. We will abandon you guys like rats on a burning ship. We’re all in this together, and we’re tired of our empty pockets because of your greed.

Either wake up now or there will be a familiar sign on your door that says, “Closed.”