Maybe for you!
Some folks may think that's hyperbole, but one of my neighbors is the same. The husband considers himself a bit of a gourmet, and the wife is a committed vegan. In the 15 years they have lived on this street their kitchen has never been used. Every single meal is either eaten at a restaurant or delivered.Maybe for you!
Mom didn't/couldn’t cook and ate out morning, noon and night all of her life. When Covid came and there was talk of restaurants being closed she said: "But how are people going to eat?" She was only half kidding....she was pretty serious.
It makes a much bigger difference in areas more aligned with America's average working and middle class: restaurants, local entertainment, etc becomes much more reasonably priced and theme parks or other regional attractions offer many promos you don't see during more robust times.And we are voting with our wallets. I enjoy live shows, eating out, and spending money on places where I want to stay. If it’s too expensive, I don’t go. But I don’t work/save to hoard money, I work/save to enjoy life. As for the recession, seems like we’ve been waiting for that for long time?
I live in a VHCOL area. I would have said HCOL until recently, but in the local news there are articles stating that 1 out of 14 people are millionaires and home prices are a million+. And that’s just Seattle. I image the ratio is worse on the Eastside (Bellevue/Redmond/Sammamish), where there is more wealth. It amazes me how much wealth has accumulated in this area.
So lots of discretionary income in this part of the world and even with higher prices, a few percent here or there isn’t going to make a difference. I’m skeptical even the eventual recession will have a big impact (the tech layoffs sure didn’t).
In Seattle, it’s the millionaires next door — 54,200 of them
The odds of running into a millionaire here are better than almost anywhere else. One in every 12 adults in the city is a liquid millionaire, a new study finds.www.seattletimes.com
+1 I was raised to understand the value of a dollar and to know the difference between "need" and "want". There is nothing like experiencing buyers remorse a couple of times and feeling like a sucker to make you consider your purchases more carefully.
A friend once went to a benefit at the palatial home of two of the major benefactors of the charity she ran. She admired their glorious, state-of-the-art kitchen and the wife said, "Oh, we don't really use it. We eat out every night".
Have not seen one example of the above here in West Central FLA.
Not hyperbole at all. The best mom could do was make coffee and maybe a sandwich. Her idea of "eating in" was ordering delivery. My brother and I grew up in restaurants to the point where our regular waiters became our "uncles" when we were young. Her own mother didn't cook either. The family joke was that she knew where the kitchen was but never went in there. Gramps hired a cook.Some folks may think that's hyperbole, but one of my neighbors is the same. The husband considers himself a bit of a gourmet, and the wife is a committed vegan. In the 15 years they have lived on this street their kitchen has never been used. Every single meal is either eaten at a restaurant or delivered.
They have a few other quirks as well.
Hopefully you won't. Fingers crossed. No one around here used to either, but a lot has changed the past couple years.
I grew up with a parent that couldn't even make coffee. They drank Sanka, and we almost never went out to eat. For lunch each day I was given a thermos of canned soup. Otherwise, my childhood diet was burnt eggs, burnt toast, burnt steaks, powdered potatoes, canned corn and frozen fish sticks until I was old enough to learn how to cook for myself.
DW isn't a great cook, but she really doesn't like me in the kitchen. She accuses me of being unable to boil water without burning it.
Wow! This blows my mind as I grew up in a family where my mom was a great and adventurous cook, and came from a family of amazing cooks/culinary tradition. This was wonderful growing up. In-laws still tease us about how often we talk about food when we get together.
we regularly had mrs. pauls fish sticks. slightly burnt on the bottom. remember swanson's tv dinners? which was your favorite? the meatloaf, turkey, salsbury steak? i loved the little cherry cobbler desert on top in the middle. DW on the other hand is a fantastic cook. didn't know what i didn't know till i got married.
My parent arrived in the United States as a child refugee after WWII. She would sometimes make a casserole from her childhood, but either it wasn't a good recipe or she didn't make it properly. My better-half also grew up with a single parent. She sat at a table with her siblings and ate pasta and salad 6 night a week.
Growing up in the UK, Sunday was the "roast" - either a whole chicken, leg of lamb, side of beef, etc. Served as late lunch in the winter (to heat the house from the oven), or dinner in the summer. If you wanted more you would put a piece of bread on your plate and sop up the gravy.
My mom could do wonders with left-overs. But occasionally, something had sat too long and we'd all get 24 hour stomach flu - except my dad. He NEVER got sick (and then he got an ulcer, so I guess he had a lot of stomach acid.)
Yeah, I think we've discussed that, and it's certainly not "free" to manage currency.
That seems to be the trend: put the customer in the awkward position of challenging the junk fees. Like the default 20% tip when you walk up to the counter and pick up your order, or the 3% auto charge for whatever the latest sad news story. Even if it says "optional" if they default to "yes" you look like a jerk if you opt out. And walk out feeling worse either way...if you don't want to look like a jerk, you grin and bear it, walking out stressed. If you don't mind looking like a jerk, you challenge it, and walk out stressed. The psychologists have proven that the last thing that happens in an encounter is more highly influencal when thinking back on the encounter. I think all of these junk charges are going to sour people on going to these places. For me, the hipster places are on my "generally avoid" list because of these kinds of processes.
If he burns my food (turns it into carbon) that's on HIM! I don't want to pay for it.
