Sometime before 7 this morning, two of my three HP devices whirring away, I was diligently sorting the jumble of email that, since the end of business yesterday, had turned up in my inbox.

Admittedly, most find their unopened way to my ‘Deleted Items’ box and, sensing a Broadband invoice, the mail from 2degrees almost went the same way.

Upon opening the email I saw that, true to form, 2degrees was again raving about how much better it is than the competition; passing itself off as ‘The honest telco’, ‘New Zealand’s fairest telco’ and by implication, (despite a recent price increase) New Zealand’s most cost–effective telco.

Anyway, 2degrees was demonstrating how friendly it was and how much fun it could be by holding a competition – requiring you to write in and ‘In less than 250 words tell us how 2020 has been unfair’ – with a prize and everything.

Once again, the email came perilously close to being discarded; then I saw my opportunity for a vent.

I’m not even sure what kind of prize they were offering; I expect it was a set period of cost-free something-that-doesn’t-interest-me which, after that period has ended they would automatically start charging until you asked them to stop then after two or three weeks of your repeated insistence along with monthly payments for a service that you never wanted in the first place but have now had for over twelve months, I had zero intention of winning and, in the few minutes I afforded the competition, there was zero hope that I would…

‘In my opinion 2020 has been terribly unfair, in that, at a time where businesses, companies, utilities, telcos and the like, ought to have been pulling together to assist their respective communities, the only notable thing most of the aforementioned entities have done, is RAISE their prices.

Why though?

Everyone across the world is struggling but, because these money-making machines refuse to accept anything less than a perpetually GARGANTUAN profit margin, when their costs increase, rather than absorbing some of the burden, they simply increase costs at the other end; thereby increasing inflation and ensuring the minimum wage is continually on the rise.

The worst thing is, these faceless, unconscionable entities continue to act as though they ARE helping the community by talking up all the AMAZING things they do but which, ultimately, benefit nobody.

That is how 2020 has been unfair to me.’

Other than that it’s been peachy, thanks for asking.

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Panda Earmark/Noah Toogood

Photography by Ivy Goodyear