Inflation is bad, I know. But the specifics can still be startling. We were striding through the Chicago Botanic Garden earlier this month. It was hot, I was thirsty and a lemonade was in order. So I got in line at a refreshment stand and, in a pro forma way, asked what a cup of lemonade costs. Answer: $12. Mind you, this wasn't a lemonade and vodka, or fancy lemonade squeezed in front of your eyes. Just a glass of plain old lemonade. Made from water, sugar and a lemon or two. Or lemon extract, more likely.
Maybe I'm cheap, but I couldn't do it. I turned and fled, muttering apologies. Setting off toward a water fountain, I asked myself what was the most I would have paid for a lemonade there at the Botanic Garden, and decided $8.
Or on Sunday. We decided not to drive straight home the day after the wedding, but to stop in Traverse City, an hour south. Take it easy. We booked ourselves in a Best Western motel. What would you think a room at a Best Western would cost? With the $20 fee for the dog, over $300. Not to diss the hotel. It was clean, the clerks were very nice. There were chocolate chip cookies that evening and make-your-own waffles in the morning.
Or on Sunday. We decided not to drive straight home the day after the wedding, but to stop in Traverse City, an hour south. Take it easy. We booked ourselves in a Best Western motel. What would you think a room at a Best Western would cost? With the $20 fee for the dog, over $300. Not to diss the hotel. It was clean, the clerks were very nice. There were chocolate chip cookies that evening and make-your-own waffles in the morning.
Though we did check into the special dog suite — it had an exit to outside the building, and no carpeting. But my wife didn't like the uncarpeted effect, so we quickly changed rooms, from 125 to 108.
Which meant, when the air-conditioning started this loud whining hum, we were not predisposed to change rooms again. I mean, once is acceptable. But twice, that puts you in the realm of chronic complainers, if not the unhinged. I figured, we'd get used to it.
But I am nothing if not handy. And I know that noise is created by vibration. Approaching the air conditioner, I placed my palm firmly on the surface and pressed. The hum stopped. Now the thing to do was try to replicate the effect of my hand pressing hard on the air conditioner front panel. I slid over the one chair and wedged it against the air conditioner. It continued operating, quietly. Amazing. Sometimes stuff works. I was pleased with my handiwork though, frankly, for $306 a night, you expect better.
Which meant, when the air-conditioning started this loud whining hum, we were not predisposed to change rooms again. I mean, once is acceptable. But twice, that puts you in the realm of chronic complainers, if not the unhinged. I figured, we'd get used to it.
But I am nothing if not handy. And I know that noise is created by vibration. Approaching the air conditioner, I placed my palm firmly on the surface and pressed. The hum stopped. Now the thing to do was try to replicate the effect of my hand pressing hard on the air conditioner front panel. I slid over the one chair and wedged it against the air conditioner. It continued operating, quietly. Amazing. Sometimes stuff works. I was pleased with my handiwork though, frankly, for $306 a night, you expect better.
For three hundred bucks a night, I'll change rooms all day, if I can't get no satisfaction. Who cares if they think I'm a crotchety old geezer, and an unhinged Jew from Ohio? They'll never see me again, and I'll never see them again. Not at those prices. I'd have made some maintenance guy put his fat ass on the air conditioner until the hum stopped, tipped him, and hit the hay. You did all the work, and paid handsomely for the privilege.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that it was just a BEST WESTERN MOTEL blows me away. That's even more outrageous then twelve smackers for a lemonade that probably cost six just a few summers ago, before and during the Plague. The rampant greed and price gouging has become ridiculous. Businesses have already made back what they lost during Covid, ages ago. Now they're doing it because they know they can, and because they can get away with it.
On the other hoof, I know what a tourist trap and destination town Traverse City is, so you pay through the nose to stay there. My Carolina cousin lives in Houghton Lake in the summertime, and we always drove up to the wineries of Traverse City, and the bars, and the cherry stores. The sidewalks are always swarming with out-of-towners, even on weekdays, and people up there are spending their money like there's no tomorrow...maybe because for some folks, there may not be one.
Money seems to be worth less and less every day. Summer and life whiz by, and melt away like cherry ice cream in July. Winter and death last a long time. So eat it up now, before it all goes away. It's only money. Or so I'm told. But I don't buy it (sorry).
Hey, I'm that crotchety old unhinged geezer, remember? And now, thanks to inflation and greed, I always feel like I'm being swindled, duped, cheated, and conned. The price gouging has taken a big chunk out of what joy still remains in my life, and has made me angrier than I already was. Voting red or blue won't change much, either. Avaricious Americans only salute one flag...the long green.
Having spent a lot of time in the Traverse City area I would surmise the cost of the motel is because in June, July, and August it is a seller's market. Beautiful area, nice weather, Lake Michigan, beaches, prosperous folks from Detroit and Chicago paying whatever it takes for a little leisure on the water. I read that the ratio of cost of housing to average salary in Traverse is one of the worst in the nation, rivaling places like San Francisco. Lots of wealthy people have multimillion dollar homes they spend a month a year in. The Golden Rule - those with the gold rule.
ReplyDelete$12 lemonade? I'm with you on not purchasing. Vendors, stores etc. have the right to price things however they like and we as consumers have the right to refuse to purchase. Good on ya!
ReplyDeleteCorrect if I'm wrong, Neil, but don't you have a Botanic Garden Membership card to wave at them? I thought all members got a 10% discount as well as free parking. That would at least bring the lemonade down to, uh, $10.80.
ReplyDeleteDad and I always repair to the Garden View Café for a cup of tea before leaving, and I think that's only eight bucks each, something like that. Of course, you're expected to work to enjoy the low price: they hand you an empty cup, you pick out a tea bag, find a hot water pump dispenser, and make it yourself. At least there's no tip involved.
I trust, in reflecting on prices, that you understood you were in very-high-end Traverse City at the height of the tourist season. But $12 for lemonade at the BG is still nuts.
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