Is it just me or is everything really expensive these days? I see movies and hear references to the “olden days” when movies were a nickel, gas was like ten cents, etc. I realize, of course, that back then that was considered quite a bit of money. However, my point is that in the past sixty years or so events like movies have gone from a nickel to $10, gas has gone from about ten cents to about three dollars.
When I just sat down to write this blog post at the local coffee-house I got myself a cup of coffee for $2.50 and a small muffin for $2.85. I am not trying to be some sort of curmudgeon and complain and rant, but, over two dollars for a cup of coffee seems a bit excessive. I am not at a Starbucks or anything like that with what I call “fashion coffees” I am merely at a local independent coffee shop.
I don’t consider myself an economist or mathematician of any sort, I am probably the farthest thing from those sorts of expertise. All I know is to do almost anything these days takes dollars, and not just a couple of dollars, a real amount of dollars. Want to go on a date? It will probably cost you roughly $100 for the evening on average. Want to go to the movies? At the very minimum it will cost you something like $10. Want to take a leisurely drive? Add about $10 for gas.
I just feel we have accepted this as the norm for so long that we really don’t stop and question it too much. I once wrote an article on how I feel we will go so far forward that we will wind up going backwards. In this example I am suggesting that the cost of events and everyday outings might get so costly that people will have to return to the basics – listening to radio (not satellite) watching TV (not cable) taking walks, talking to one another (face to face) and enjoying the simpler side of life. This is no way a bad thing, in fact it is probably a good thing. It would be nice though if we could make things affordable for everyone and not only people who are wealthy or well off.
Here’s a thought – let’s get going on that time machine dream. Because if we can go back in time say only about sixty years with even $5 in our pocket we could have one heck of a time.
