By Butch Freedman
Back when my kids were young and money was tight, going out to dinner was a rare treat. And when the wife and I decided we needed a break, we would choose a restaurant where the bill including tip for the four of us would stay under 25 dollars, preferably under 20. Certainly we weren’t going to dine anywhere fancy in that price range, but we could make it work. Thanks, North’s Chuck Wagon. Yesterday, we took my daughter and her wife out for a celebratory meal, and the check came to just under $300, including a 20% tip. The tab wasn’t unexpected, and we were happy to be able to treat. Still I couldn’t help thinking about this vast disparity in prices. Not only for restaurant meals, but for almost every imaginable cost in today’s inflated economy. And I can’t fully blame this one on trump, though he certainly hasn’t helped, and clearly doesn’t give a damn. Tariffs anyone? How about another endless war?
I briefly realized as we were enjoying that expensive (and excellent) meal, that only the very privileged among us can now afford such extravagances. Even diner-type meals are out of the reach of lower-income families, especially those with children. A mid-range restaurant is still going to cost a family of four north of a hundred bucks—again that 20% tip topping the evening off. Not that wait persons don’t also deserve to be able to feed their families. But there’s something rotten about the whole system, and, as in most cases now, it’s the folks who are struggling to pay their rent, that also are dis-enfranchised from the world of good eating. Their only recourse is to take the family to a fast food joint, where they are served sub-standard, and mostly unhealthy fare. There’s a reason rising obesity rates and economically challenged families seem to go hand in hand. It’s the empty calories and poor nutritional components that swell the waist line at the same time that they wreak havoc on the gut.
As in so many other aspects of today’s life in this country, only the privileged reap the benefits. I felt guilty after our big meal yesterday. Not because we couldn’t afford it or that we were being reckless with money. Beverly and I worked hard all our lives to be able to enjoy some extravagances in our retirement years and be able to share it with our family. No, the guilt came from the realization that all around us, here and abroad, kids were going to bed hungry. The term food insecurity is a chilling one.
Yes, I’m perhaps a bleeding-heart liberal. If that means that I believe there is better way to distribute wealth and benefits, then I’m ready to confess. The vast inequalities in wealth appear to only become worse as time and governments go by. The greatest aspiration in such an economy is to seek wealth in any way possible (Don’t become a teacher.) and thus gain all the entitlements of a capitalist system. Make your billions and you can have it all: fancy cars, big homes, all the rich food you can possibly consume, and ever-available health care. None of these benefits accrue to the middle and lower classes. In fact, under the current administration, even the bare minimum of services are being cut. Apparently poorer folks don’t deserve to be able to buy food or receive quality health care. Our money, we observe, is better spent on tax cuts for billionaires and lavish spending on gilded ballrooms. And, if you’re in the unfortunate position of being new to this country — as almost all of our families at one-time were — well you had better avoid good restaurants all-together or ICE thugs will be following you home and breaking down your door.
We’re not about to stop going out to our favorite restaurants and enjoying a good meal and good company. Dining out is a lovely American institution and there are a vast array of amazing chefs and cuisines to sample. At the same time, I’m aware that I can experience this bounty because of economic privilege and being born into a family that had achieved a level of economic success. Yes, economic success is inheritable, as poverty is often handed down from one generation to the next.
Of course, I’d like to see an end, or even a slight improvement, to the wealth disparity between the classes. But It’s hard to be optimistic when all the rules are being set by rich, white men, solely for their own benefit. Clearly it’s time for a change.
