There's a discussion going on at Skate Jesus about cellphone ringtones. Apparently everyone in the world but me has a phone that rings with the theme from a terrible 80's TV show.

Now, I find crazy ringtones kind of obnoxious, but if that's what you like, fine. But according to this admittedly subjective press release, ringtones were a multi-billion-dollar industry as of a year and a half ago. So, honestly, who the hell is paying for ringtones? I mean, is that not the most ridiculously self-indulgent thing you can think of? OK, there's probably something more self-indulgent -- using the United States military to avenge your father's attempted murder, for instance -- but I can't come up with anything that applies to such a large part of the population.

Given the state of the American economy right now and the unbelievable proliferation of needless and expensive phone technology, I can't help but think this is the most accessible example of the widening gap between American haves and have-nots.