Lately, I've been plagued by an inescapable feeling that I'm getting the shaft. It's happening more and more often:

• when I drive an hour each way to Southaven to see War of the Worlds and see advertisements for cars and cola after I've just paid $9 for a ticket and $6 for concessions;
• when I buy an assembled computer from Compaq for my grandmother and nearly a third of the shortcuts on the start menu and half of the desktop icons are links to free trials of Spyware Douche Deluxe and Microfat Moola that already have their installers and executables on the computer;
• when I install a program I've purchased and it creates links to affiliate programs that want to sell me something;
• when I buy a book from a bookstore (online or brick and mortar) and they stuff the bag/box full of credit card applications and deodorant fliers.

It sends me into a swearing fit. People standing within earshot are at first startled then overwhelmed with pity for that poor girl suffering from Tourette's. I feel ripped off and manipulated and, yes, it may be overreacting, as if they're treating me like an object.

I understand and fully accept advertising for services and products that I receive for free: broadcast radio, television, news and blog websites. I'm also okay with the ads on satellite tv since I'm paying for the satellite distribution service and the ads are paying the broadcasters for content. I can even accept ads on services/products I pay a minimal amount for like hardcopy newspapers that would otherwise be much more expensive to purchase because of the high cost of production.

I do not want to be the work horse that props up your drooping bottom line. I don't want to be the sucker that you coax into buying ad-on products. I don't want to feel like I've just paid good money for an advertisement.

Finding ads on something that I've paid for diminishes my user experience. It actually cheapens the product I just bought. If have to spend two hours taking off all the extra crap you shoved into the bowels of my computer, it makes me feel like I paid too much money only to be used. I'm tired of wasting money on lower quality items because you want to make an extra buck!

There are other ways to impress your investors and bring home more dough. Try making a better fucking product! Try charging more for value-added services of your own. Stop using me! I am not your bottom line butt boy!