The recession has or will hit everyone in one way or another. Some people saw it coming a few years ago. I still remember how upset I was a couple of years ago when I went to grab a half gallon of ice cream. I could wait to get home to measure how much I've grown. Then I realized that my clothes still fit. But, how is that possible? The ice cream carton feels so small in my hand. Oh, I didn't grab a half gallon, I grabbed 1.75 quarts. This must be a slightly smaller size to give me the option to save a little money. Oh wait, this is the same price as the half gallon. Where are the half gallon cartons? Then I realized that all of the cartons are now 1.75 quarts. A few months later they were reduced to 1.5 quarts for the same price as the half gallon used to be.
It seems the ice cream people know that ice cream is already priced too high and that we would stop buying it if the price went up. They figured that we might be willing to keep paying the same price even if the carton got smaller. Maybe they thought that we wouldn't notice. I noticed and that was the last time that I voluntarily went to the ice cream section of the store. I'm sure that by now they've decided that we'll revolt if they make the cartons any smaller and they've raised the price. Remember when Dilly Bars were twice as big as they are now and cost 10 cents each or 12 for a dollar?
The ice cream caper I don't believe has anything to do with the recession because it happened before anyone wanted to admit we were in a recession. It was greed pure and simple. We are starting to see changes made because of the recession but they are much more subtle.
Not long ago after attending my son's concert we decided to get some dinner to take home with us. We pulled into KFC to pick up some chicken and sides. After recovering from the heart attack I had when I saw the 40+ dollars price we went home to enjoy our wonderful meal. All of the way home I kept thinking that the french fries we got smelled a little strong. Upon taking the first bite of my favorite, an extra crispy thigh, I realized that it wasn't just the fries that smelled funny.
My guess is that since they can't really make the chicken smaller and the price is already...well, $40, they decided that they could save money by using the oil to fry their food a few days longer than they should. Needless to say I won't be voluntarily be returning to that fast food joint(I can't call it a restaurant).
Just as I was almost recovered from the rancid oil induced emotional distress, my son and I were out running around all morning and into the afternoon on Saturday. As hunger began to set in we decided that a Western Bacon Cheeseburger was a good idea. I almost never get onion rings because I hate paying $2.79 for 12 cents worth of food. We deserved a special treat that day. As I sample my oinion rings and my son's french fries I realized that this fast food joint is using the same oil as the other joint. Is there some kind of newsletter that they all get?
I can see the demise of fast food like unemployment becoming a self perpetuating cycle. When one person loses his job 5 or 10 other people start worrying about their jobs and quit spending most or all of their discretionary income. Businesses start to fill the pinch and have to lay someone off and the cycle starts over. When people don't feel they can eat out as often as they used to the food industry starts feeling the pinch and decides to start using old rancid oil thus causing their customers to quit buying from them or at least cut back conciderably. Thus the cycle starts over and is self perpetuating.
If I buy ice cream I'll buy the more expensive one that says "still a half gallon" on the carton. If I decide to get fast food I'll go out of my way to find the joint that uses fresh oil.
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