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A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 11, 2001
It was bound to happen. First came bottled water, then designer mulch. Now they're charging for air in some chichi shops and salons. At Joffrey's Coffee Bar in Ybor City, a 5-minute hit of oxygen costs $5. "You get a natural high from breathing in this oxygen," says Jane Bajor, part-owner of O2express, the company that supplies Joffrey's oxygen. That must explain why people in the pink of health would sit around in business suits with breathing tubes strapped to their noses.
This oxygen even comes in a choice of scents, such as Tangerine Dream, Lemon Grass and Clarity. At $1 a minute, we wonder how much Clarity one must inhale to realize he is paying for air.