It Strikes Me Funny PT 4: Is ‘restaurant trouble’ big trouble?

I asked three very important questions the day before yesterday. I now have the answers, thanks to my dependable and completely trust-worthy research department.

One. “Will the rising global population affect the price of food on our plate... ?”

The answer is YES. Most definitely.

However, there are three things that presently buffer Canadians somewhat from rising commodity prices, food costs and much-higher menu prices.

(According to economists, the three factors that currently buffer Canadians are as follows:

The high Canadian dollar

the high proportion of food costs unrelated to crop prices such as marketing and transportation

intense retail competition)

Two. “Is there a magic pill we can take to make the bad news go away?”

No. Many thing$ are going North ($$ co$t-wi$e $$), right along with global population, and will continue to do so. Menu prices at the Malibu Restaurant will eventually rise and cause weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Three. “Can we return to the 1940s when a burger and fries cost 10 cents?”

Dream on.


["Shop on. Eat out. Pay tomorrow - just like the 1940s"]

Rather than dreaming on, however, we should make an effort to discover ways (though they be transient, like the aforementioned buffers, i.e., the high Canadian dollar, retail competition, etc.) to deal with the inevitable higher restaurant tabs.

For example, if eating out is dear to your heart and you believe that the Canadian pace of eating out should be maintained (i.e., at 17.7 million restaurant visits per year), perhaps you could try the following:

Prioritize your monthly expenses in order of importance to your lifestyle, reduce spending in less-important areas, take the money saved and go grab a burger.

For example, maybe TV Cable isn’t really high on your list anymore now that Charlie Sheen’s TV career is in the toilet.

Fifty, sixty, seventy dollars (depending on the cable package) will buy a nice evening out on the town or a pretty darn big bag o’ burgers every Friday, right?

(I think I’m onto something here).

How much money are you spending on your cell phone, phone bill, iPad, gas, oil, tires and hubcaps for the car, Levis, Nike sneakers, new sweaters, books, street meat outside Canadian Tire, cartons or bags of cigarettes, cookies, ice cream, soda pop, cat food and vet services for the year, curtains, couches, shag carpet, big screen TVs and Ottomans for the rec room, or on a myriad of other stuff too lengthy to mention?

Admittedly, with rising prices everywhere, something will have to give, but many Canadians have hundreds of things on their lifestyle priority list and can easily shed a few. I bet some people don’t even know what they spend their money on. It just flows through their hands in a habitual consumerism-style frenzy each week. Heck, if it wasn’t for the flashing neon lights above restaurants and diners, some people would even forget to eat between shopping trips.

So, I don’t think the restaurant industry should worry too much about raising their prices a bit.

Do you?

And the headline that sparked four related posts, i.e., “Trouble on menu,” shouldn’t cause panic for the average Canadian for now.

Right?

Shop on. Eat out. Pay tomorrow.

***

How was that for a suitable ending?

Sure, I could have said ‘reduce spending, pay down debt, save money for tough times ahead,’ but “Shop on. Eat out. Pay tomorrow” has such a lovely ring to it.

Please click here to read It Strikes Me Funny PT 3: Is ‘restaurant trouble’ big trouble?

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