<<<Off Topic>>> The High Price of Food
Hi Big,
Some people have no sense at all about value, and seem to figure that the more they pay for something the better it must be. I'm with your grandma on this. I want value for my money, and I have a reputation as a cheapskate. When my Manhattan house partners buy expensive clothes, shoes etc, they will sometimes lie to me about the cost to avoid hearing from me for the Nth time about the foolishness of such purchases.
--- Your story of bringing the menu to Big Earl has several coincidences with the following (Absolutely True) story from my as yet unpublished (and unwritten) autobiography. I thought you might get a kick out of it. Others might also find it amusing, especially after the week we just had.
A few years ago I was out of the country visiting family. One of my uncles was coming back to the USA at the same time as I was, and we traveled together. He asked me to come with him to visit a friend of his. This friend was with my Uncle in the Viet Nam war. His name was Earl. A big black man (I'd guess 6'4"; 260 lbs) and he was called "Big Earl". My uncle's nom de guerre was "Mad Dog" and his friends from that time call him 'Maddy'. Shortly after returning from the war Big Earl had gone to prison with a life sentence for a triple murder. But a life sentence isn't always really a 'life sentence', and after 25 years Big Earl had been moved to a minimum security prison and was likely to be released in another year or two.
--- I'd not been born yet when Big Earl went to prison, but Uncle Maddy wanted me to go with him to visit because Big Earl had known my mother. But the main reason for the visit was food. Now that he was in a minimum security prison, visitors could bring in food. He had written Uncle Maddy about this and asked that if he was ever nearby would he bring in some pizza or something since the prison food was terrible and Big Earl had been dreaming about good food for years. It was only about 2000 miles out of the way, so off we went. Convenience is not a factor for Uncle Maddy where friendship is concerned.
--- So the plan was that we would visit two days in a row. The first day we would take in a selection of carry-out foods. We would also bring a menu from a local Chinese restaurant since Big Earl was especially fond of Chinese food. He'd pick from the menu, and we'd return the next day with his selections.
--- Big Earl was great fun. He really enjoyed his food. He was a very witty and articulate man, and told us many funny stories about life in prison. After a while Uncle Maddy pulled out the Chinese menu and told Big Earl about our returning the next day with his selections. He was positively overcome with joy. He started looking through the menu with a big grin on his face, reading aloud the names of the dishes.
--- But after a minute or two his smile faded. He continued to study the menu, but he was obviously troubled about something. After another minute a tear rolled down his cheek. "Maddy," he said, "I've been looking forward to getting out in a couple of years. But how will I be able to afford to live with prices like this?"
--- Having spent 25 years in prison working for 90 cents a day in the prison laundry while inflation increased prices in the outside world, Big Earl had been stunned by the idea of Szechuan Shrimp costing $10. He shook his head slowly from side to side reading the menu. "I couldn't even afford the plain rice" he said.
--- We thought at first he was kidding, but he was not.
We explained about inflation etc and how he would have much more money than he'd had 25 years ago, and he was somewhat reassured, but not really completely convinced until much later when he became personally familiar with how things had changed.
--- He's been out now for awhile and works for Uncle Maddy. I talked to him on the phone not too long ago and reminded him about that visit. He laughed and laughed and said "You know when I got out Maddy tried to get me to work for $2 a day? Told me it was more than twice what I was paid in my previous position, and that he'd throw in a Chinese lunch once a week."
regards,
diana |
