For those of you not familiar with the term LIFELINE, it's a government-sponsored program that subsidizes landline telephone service for people on low to limited incomes.

I've been on LIFELINE OHIO since 1997---about 16 1/2 years, give-or-take.

I recently recieved a notice from LIFELINE OHIO for a renewal of my service in which it stated in part:  "Unfortunately we do not have a Lifeline Ohio application on file for you." (I guess 16 1/2 years is such a brief period of time I can understand not yet being "fully established" into their system.)

So I had to make a trip to the downtown library to make photocopies of my MEDICAID card, SSI award letter, and a notice from JOB & FAMILY SERVICES OF OHIO pertaining to my food assistance, no thanks to the amnesiatic computer system of LIFELINE.

If it's not bad enough having to reiterate something that should still be a long-established given, they give you only 30 days (from whatever date is posted on the top left of their notice) to send them back their form along with the proof-of-assistance forms, warning that your LIFELINE service will be "permanently terminated" if they don't recieve those by that due date.

Typical extortionist mindset common to most corporate, governmental and industrial factions.