Of course, the little guy, in this case, is me.

I am a 36-year-old (yeah, might as well be 100), disabled (severe spine issues), with a family of 5 to support (wife and 3 daughters... I'm outnumbered, severely). My disability is the only income my family has, so we watch our money pretty closely.

When it comes to our bills, we pay rent first, then electricity, followed by the gas bill, cable/internet/phone is next (it's all bundled), followed by our cell phones. All bills get paid on time, every month - never missed a payment, never been late in paying.

Yesterday (10 June, 2010), I received a notice from the electric company that, due to our "high energy usage", we have to pay an additional $100 deposit along with our next regular energy bill. Of course, I called the number on the notice and complained, but they reminded me of their "lien waiver deposit contract" which states:

"WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO REVIEW AND MODIFY YOUR LIEN WAIVER DEPOSIT AT ANY TIME, AS WE SEE FIT"

In English, I suppose that can be read, "WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO SOCK YOU WITH ARBITRARY FEES ANY TIME WE CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY OUR BUDGET. WE CAN'T AFFORD THE WAY WE RUN OUR BUSINESS, SO YOU WILL FOOT OUR BILLS."

I told them that I would happily continue paying my regular bill, but as for the extra $100 they randomly claim I need to pay them, they will not see a dime of that. If they take me to court, something tells me that the judge will laugh that clause in their contract right out of the courthouse.

Big business trying to screw the little guy. Age old story that still happens, everyday...