If the Economy is So Good, Why is Everybody Pissed?: Facts, Perception, and Reality

~ Laura

Going to a restaurant with my family of four adults is an expensive activity. After ordering four entrees that start at $20 for a burger, four or five beverages ($15 for the cheapest glass of wine), maybe some nachos for an appetizer, our bill will approximate $200 with tip and other fees. I’m talking about a meal at the standard sports bar in New Jersey, not a four-star restaurant in Manhattan. 

A few years back, we went out to a mid-range restaurants two or three times a week – a privilege, I know. Socializing at restaurants is a major form of recreation in Jersey, particularly for families like mine that are still caring for a disabled adult-child. Dinner at a restaurant is a way to get out of the house and laugh with friends. With everybody working and driving Ian to his after-school therapy, sometime a restaurant is a necessity, too.

Read more at Apt. 11D, the newsletter

Published by Laura

8 thoughts on “If the Economy is So Good, Why is Everybody Pissed?: Facts, Perception, and Reality”

  1. I see this impact, and having people tell me I’m crazy makes me hate them. I have changed my grocery shopping (more Aldi, more frozen vegetables and fruit) but my bill is definitely higher. I’ve turned down the thermostat to 68 from72. I’m cold. And guys like surowecki insist it’s in my head. IS this a winning strategy?

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  2. I’m the food coordinator of a food pantry that serves five rural ZIP codes on the outskirts of a suburb. What that means is that every request for food assistance rings through to my phone. I’m speaking here only as myself, not on behalf of our nonprofit, and I’m not revealing any client confidences when I say that the need is way up. The only reason we’re not overwhelmed is that two other organizations have stepped in to help out: a church that hosts a 24/7 “little free pantry,” and a new nonprofit that distributes fresh produce from local farms.

    In the past two years we’ve also seen a huge increase in the number of households requesting non-food items: Toilet paper. Paper towels. Toothbrushes and toothpaste. Feminine hygiene supplies. Body wash. Dish soap and laundry detergent. Before 2021, people rarely asked for these items, but they’ve all gotten much more expensive. Lately people sound more grateful to receive these items than the food.

    When I started this work seven years ago, callers were more likely to be seniors, the chronically underemployed, or people who were dealing with obvious turmoil in their lives, like a divorce or family health crisis. Now our newer clients are more likely to be middle-class professionals who just can’t pay all the bills anymore. For many, this is the first time they’ve had to ask for help, and doing so is an understandable source of anxiety and tears.

    I don’t understand these people, journalists mostly, mocking those who point out that things are not fine right now. I wish they could answer my phone for a week.

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  4. I think this sensation of want is driven largely by the insanely high cost of housing. If you are having to put more than 50% (sometimes more than 70%) of your income into housing, and there is no give in the rental or puchase market that lets you shop for a cheap alternative, you are stuck even if you have a job and inflation is down,. High housing costs are to some extent driven by high expectations for the quality of your housing (two bathrooms in a two bedroom apartment? really?) but those are now fixed into our economy. I’m comtemplating downsizing from a house to an apartment and, wow, what I’m going to have to pay for not very much!

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    1. The housing costs in coastal places are something I can read the numbers on but have trouble processing how life works with them. My housing costs are low even by local standards (small house purchased 20 years ago).

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      1. House bought thirty five years ago in Arlington VA – if you had told Young Dave that he would be living in a million dollar house in retirement, Young Dave would have thought he was going to be Rich, Rich! Surrounded others who are aware we couldn’t buy our homes today, and the local politics is pretty divided between those of us who bought when and those who can’t see a future vine covered cottage and resent.
        Yes, expectations have risen, I grew up with Formica counters and now my neighbors have granite (ever seeking the middle way, we have tile). As well, groceries are a big challenge, our local food pantries are reporting employed hard workers in the lines for grocery distributions.
        Yes $20/hr jobs are absolutely available, but it’s hard to pay for a twelve hundred dollar a month room, let alone a two thousand dollar apartment.

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