This the same old question that any texter (or someone who doesn't want to be texted, for that matter) has asked: why am I being charged for text messages coming into my phone? Everyone knows the real answer for it - to make money, of course! But is it fair? I don't think so.

How can it be fair to be charged? You don't get the opportunity to accept or reject the message. When somebody calls you on the phone, you have the ability to reject the call if you don't want to use up your minutes talking to the person calling. Yet, some total stranger can accidentally dial in your digits, meant for some other chatty teenager, and you get charged 15 cents. You still get charged, even if you don't open the message at all!

Most wireless carriers will allow you to completely block texting, which is a nice option. However, what if you want to get select texts from family members but don't want a flood of SMS showing up from other random friends? You're hosed. The only real option is to pay a monthly fee to have a certain allotment of texts, so that you don't get slammed with a 15 cent charge each time.

Sometimes customer service departments can help ease the pain of some of these charges, but they won't do it over and over again. Nor is it a good use of valuable time to dispute $2-3 of extra charges on a monthly bill.

There isn't a real point to this post, other than just venting. Businesses must make profit - that's the whole point they exist, after all - but I do feel there should be a more ethical approach to this dilemma. What do you think?