I am so mad I could spit. Following the advice of media and other sources last summer to lock into a price for our heating oil, we entered into a contract with our oil company for $4.89 per gallon. This translates into a payment of $403 for 11 months. Instead of continuing its mercurial upward rise, the price of heating oil has plummeted. I read in Saturday's Monitor that the company is now charging $2.59 a gallon. So our contract price is almost double the going rate.

My husband called the company to see if something could be done to modify our contract price because this payment is making it more difficult for us to meet our other financial commitments. The company spokesperson essentially told my husband to take his business elsewhere if he wasn't satisfied.

I am insulted by the company's coldhearted dismissal of our request. They say that they contracted to buy our oil at the price we agreed upon and therefore couldn't modify our contract. Give me a break! The oil companies are raking in jillions of dollars in profit. While they may have contracted to buy our oil at a certain price, certainly if they wanted to, they could make an adjustment in the financial interest of their customers. Certainly they can afford it. But they choose not to. This philosophy of theirs is simply not fair.

They should be forced to modify these fuel oil contracts, especially in view of the difficult economic times we "little people" are facing. When are these oil companies going to be taken to task?

BRENDA KOCH

Concord