Take me back to the good old days
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Comparison between past violent extortion and modern arbitrary added consumer fees
Overview
This is a two-panel satirical comparison meme. The left panel is labeled 'How they used to extort us', showing a frightened man holding his hands up in surrender as another person points a gun at him across a table with stacks of cash visible, representing traditional violent armed robbery. The right panel is labeled 'How they extort us now', followed by a list of common extra charges: Transaction fee: $9.99, Convenience fee: $5.99, Admin fee: $3.00, Service fee: $8.50. The meme draws a humorous, critical parallel between old-fashioned violent extortion and the modern widespread practice of businesses adding numerous untransparent, mandatory extra fees to purchases that consumers have no meaningful way to avoid.
Origin notes
This meme was sourced from the RSS feed of the Reddit Meme community, with the original posted title being 'Take me back to the good old days'. It is a widely shareable relatable consumer grievance meme that circulates on social media platforms to criticize the excessive, often arbitrary additional fees charged by retailers, service providers, and corporations to customers.
