Magic Money Tree

Last year Heidi and I discovered that there is a “Magic Money Tree”, we didn’t find it mind you, but we heard that it’s out there.

Apparently it’s a money tree that gives out money “just because”.  The most recent evidence was a survey wherein most respondents (75%) thought restaurant workers should make more money. Here.

What’s strange about the finding of this survey is that more than any other compliant that we read about, or hear about, even a very quick tour of Yelp exposes a rampant public opinion across the spectrum of restaurants that they should be cheaper.  No, “reviewers” didn’t bother to explain why an economic analysis of one particular location, the quality of ingredients used, or pay scale should justify lowering the prices-just that generally that restos “should be cheaper”.

My theory is that the idea was initially spread by some bozos in the  media that had very little, to zero, knowledge of economics. They assumed that the amount restos charge is simply a function of ego.

Without question there is in our country a belief in a Magic Money Tree, we see it politically, folks want shit that they don’t want to pay for, and it’s no different by and large in dining choices.  Guess what though, we may all wish for things to be cheaper, but that does not come without a price.  You want cheap eggs, cheap chicken, cheap beef, it’s all over the place.  You want your steak made from an old dairy cow, not a problem, I can point you to a hundred places that offer that.  You want to eat breakfast sausage made from commodity pork, “junkers” they call them, you don’t have to look far.  It’s cheap, but what is it? You want cheap pancakes, heck, plenty of spots will mix those out of a bag for you!

If you want cheap food at restos, choose the ones that systematically use undocumented workers that they can pay at below markets rates.  You want cheap food at resto go to places that don’t use farmers, or artisan cheese makers and high quality ingredients.  Don’t use restos that make an effort to pay people a livable income. You want cheap, just shop by price alone, you’ll get cheap.

So those that consider themselves, “friends of the working man”, if you want to shop for the cheap eats, that’s your choice, but the one thing you can’t do is tell the rest of us that restaurant workers should also get more benefits, higher pay, because shopping by price does one thing and one thing alone, makes that scenario impossible-and you a big ignorant hypocrite.