Enlightenment

Hi everyone,

Yes, believe it or not, even frogs like me can fall prey to the cruel touch of sadness from time to time. The nice man whose garden I live in, I'll call him Bob to protect his ID, has been explaining to me what it's like to live inside a house. Of course, such things wouldn't normally concern me, after all, I love the feeling that living out of doors and in the garden gives me. Ribbit!! Bob told me that the houses of humans is powered by sources of energy, something call gas and electrickery. Apparently, it's just another tax that you humans are forced to pay, if you want to be kept warm in wintertime, and, he tells me, this source of power also helps to run the trappings of an effluent society... tellys, radios, PCs, cookers, mowers (I know these things, and believe me they are scary, croak!!) and ligh... lightening... lighting. He mentioned lots more, but my tiny brain just couldn't take it all onboard.

Just like many of you out there, Bob has just received his latest gas and electricity bills, I assume that these are a means to secure payment for what he has used? a bit like pay up or we'll twist yer arm off, eh? Anyway, for the umpteenth time during the past year, his supplier has increased its prices zillions of times, making his bills virtually double over this period. Although I don't understand what he means, he said that it wasn't the price rises that hurt him the most, it was more the fact that he changed all of the light bulbs in his house, from sixty watt ordinary type bulbs, which he replaced with eleven watt low energy bulbs. Then you must add this to the saving on his heating, even when it was terribly cold! Needless to say, he considers that he didn't actually save anything, since the bills exceeded what they were prior to those increases. He just paid a darn sight more for a whole lot less. Considering that like everyone else, he was asked to make energy reductions by this government of yours in its bid to reduce carbon emissions, only the greedy energy suppliers themselves benefited out of the sacrifices he had made. How's that for a devious way of getting people to support fat cats (yuk!!) and big businesses while everyone, in turn, goes short?

By the way, I think that I should tell you something about Bob himself. I'll save him his blushes and tell you that he's in his sixties, which is quite old for humans, isn't it? Anyway, just like lots his age, he receives a pension. You know what? I cannot find a nicer human that anyone could ever want to meet. So, as I was saying, living on this trifling pension, where he needs a powerful magnifying glass just to see how much it really is, isn't exactly easy, especially as Bob also suffers from something that affects his limbs and is in pain twenty four seven. I know a bit about pain myself, what with those damned furballs that keep intruding into my garden. Never mind, as you can tell, life for him isn't exactly a bed of roses on a day to day basis. Still, I can assure you all that despite everything, he enjoys life and likes a damned good laugh...

I expect you're wondering where is all this information leading? It's simple: As I understand your society, Bob says that you humans are openly encouraged to swap your energy suppliers if you are not satisfied with the one you're with at present, right? Well, Bob wants to know the answer to the following question: Can any of you who have swapped your suppliers, honestly say that your savings (if any?) were precisely as the new company had promised? According to my tiny froggy brain, I very much doubt it!!

Let me make it simple for you, if you compare your present tariffs on gas and electricity for the period of one year, and place it beside any of those on offer on the internet (is this something I can catch flies with?), savings do exist. Yes indeed! But Bob assures me that these savings will only be a few pounds at the most. One thing is sure, it'll be a whole lot short of the hundreds of pounds they promise you'll make when they ask you to go with them, believe me. Of course, perhaps you are one of those who trusts these suppliers to help themselves to your bank account, paying your bills by direct debit? You are! Then you're a whole lot better off than Bob is. Even so, just like you, he has spent his entire working life paying the taxes you lot are burdened with, but to what end? Well my friends, I'll return on this nasty subject another time. Croak!!

Anyway, Bob says that the only ones to make any money in the energy game, are those who want to help you change your supplier, and the suppliers themselves. The way he sees everything, it's that you are all being pushed around from pillar to post in what is known as the postcode lottery and energy price monopoly. And another thing, the energy Ombudsman, according to Bob, is a total waste of taxpayers money. The only thing this man does is to protect the energy business profits with a rod of steel. Surely you didn't think that he's there for your benefit?

I hope that I haven't upset anyone with my titbits of information, but you know, Bob and just about everyone like him, is the backbone of this country of yours, and, well, you should be standing up for those who are getting on in age. After all, I wonder how you all think you will be living when you're his age? Nice fat pensions? Don't make me laugh! Do you imagine that you'll be fighting for what you think is yours by right? Or will you lay down and accept everything that's thrown at you, just like it probably is at this very moment?

I'm going to leave you with a small thought, cos even we frogs have our code of ethics. Apparently, I've heard that the human government is protected by its own constitutional bill of rights, and good for them too... ;) But why is it that you, the very people that this government is there to serve, doesn't?

Stay bright and stay safe my friends. I'll be seeing you...

Froggy