WHAT BUGS ME

-- Bill Griever, College Park

One Illegal Parker Clogs the Commute

Virtually every morning, after I come across the 14th Street Bridge, I pass the Ronald Reagan Building about 7:10, and there is always at least one illegally parked car in the right lane of 14th Street, about a hundred feet or so north of the intersection with Constitution Avenue.

This causes a major disruption in traffic flow, and I can't understand why no one from the police department seems to care.

-- Brian Robertson, Lorton

Beware the Stealth Costs

Hidden fees bug me.

Yesterday I opened my cable bill and found a new "VA Cable Right of Way Fee," an "FCC Access Charge," an "FCC Fee," and five "Unregulated Telephone Charges."

It's amazing that the cable and telephone companies can nearly double the cost of a $10.14 basic cable bill and an $8.44 local phone bill by tacking on a few hidden fees.

Everywhere I look, it seems there are hidden fees. When a police officer writes a ticket for running a stop sign, the driver sees a $30 fine and $56 in fees. Because the police add $56 to every ticket they write, the police call the mandatory fee what it is: a fine. Touting a $14.69 phone bill as $8.44 basic service is nothing less than false advertising, just as calling an $86 ticket a $30 fine is nothing less than extortion.

-- Alan Kennedy-Shaffer, Williamsburg