So much for so little…

Last week, I bought some popcorn and a couple of soft drinks at a multiplex. The bill came to a whopping Rs 400. That was more than how much we paid for a whole meal for a family of four not less than 5 years ago. I thought it was a total rip-off.

But, I did buy that popcorn and ate it happily. Now I do feel a little guilty, but it won’t last long. Why blame anyone for selling this stuff at such steep rates? Let’s say the culture of paying through the nose for a simple packet of popcorn (now it has a fancy variant: a popcorn tub) or coffee has been ushered in by people like me.

Things were different not so long ago.

I went to a coffee shop for the first time pretty late in life. I must have been 20. We chose a coffee that was the least priced. It was watery and tasted like a potion. And we shared two cups of coffee between three of us. The next time I visited the café, I didn’t know what to choose of the list because the names made no relevance to a coffee. So I just refused politely.

Now, I know all the names on their menu and what each one of them exactly consists. I even enjoy sipping what I would have once termed as insipid coffee.
I can’t say what prompts people like me to buy such stuff and later regret paying so much for so little. It must be that spur of the moment.

The saving grace perhaps is that I earn, I spend and THEN I crib.