The Associated Press tells the tale of a woman who rented her phone rather than buy it.   She rented it for a very long time, 42 years.   Ultimately she paid $14,000 for the privilege!   Her family recently discovered this and became angry.   They put a stop to the rip-off and replaced her phone with a purchased, modern variety.   The woman may never speak to them again, via phone or in person!

$14,000 is a lot of scratch unless you perform the simple mathematical operation of dividing it by 42 years.   They don't teach that in schools anymore!   But doing it yields just $333 per year or $28 per month.   Most kids pay double that rate for the privilege of a "FREE mobile phone" these days!

The AP reports, customers could have opted out of their leases in 1985 but almost a million people did not.   A spokesman for "the phone company" says, "We will continue to lease sets as long as there is a demand for them."   And there are benefits to leasing like free replacements and newer models whenever a customer chooses.

The woman in question now has an extra few bucks each month but if her phone malfunctions, as all electronic gadgets do, she'll have to wait for someone to drive her to the store, when it is convenient for them, so she can purchase a replacement.   She better put her new savings into a lockbox!   Oh, and by the way, the woman doesn't care for the newfangled push-button phone.   She says, "I'd like to have my rotary back.   I like that better."