I am not one of those old curmudgeons that constantly lament the price of food these days. You’ve hear Grandpa go on a rant, “In my day you could get a T-bone steak and all the fixins’ for a nickel,” always leaving out the part about the average salary being 60 cents a week.
Still, there are things that have gone up in price disproportionately with normal inflation. Going through college the minimum wage was around $2.10 an hour. Carrying a full academic load while working minimum wage jobs and paying tuition, books, rent and food did not leave me much but I never went hungry. There was ramen noodles about 10 cents a package and eggs, 35 cents for a half-dozen. 50 years later ramen and eggs are still reasonable. But where they got me was on my college staple, squid.
Squid was considered bait and could be purchased in Santa Monica for 20-25 cents a pound. Fry up a pound of squid and you ate like royalty for 2 meals (Side note: Linda, not a lover of tentacles, would vehemently disagree). But then it became “Calamari” and was a common appetizer and a main course. Catches became smaller, demand higher and the final blow as sushi came to the United States and bait was forever transformed to Ika for $3.00 or more for a tiny piece with a little rice. This was the real Squid Games!
Inflation has forced many college students to take a hard look at their situation and do the only thing possible for them to survive; demand more money from their parents!