So what’s up with this inflation?
A crazy war starts on the other side of the world and the price of saimin goes up in Kona. Did you notice? Top Ramen used to be 15 cents each, now it’s 90 cents. Soon you’ll pay extra for that little pack of seasoning.
I wanted to know the actual definition of inflation, so I looked it up and it was real complicated. It said inflation is when the prices of goods and services become inflated. No kidding? We would have never guessed.
It’s driving everybody nuts. Everyone used to talk about the COVID all day and now it’s inflation. You overhear people complaining how coffee used to be 4 bucks and now it’s $8. It’s like prices almost double.
And chips, forget it. Down south one store is selling a regular-size bag of Doritos for $7. That’s a lot to chip in for chips. Another store sells a watermelon for 40 bucks. You pay extra for the seeds.
It’s highway robbery, no, make that grocery store robbery.
And how about the cost of gas, in some places it’s $5.99, a sneaky way to charge you $6.
Some gas stations have a deal, you give them all your money and they give you a tank of gas..
It’s not funny, especially if you live in Ocean View and work in Kona. That’s 100-mile round-trip. If their car gets 20 miles to the gallon, at $5.99 a gallon, that’s around $30 a trip. If someone works five days a week, that’s $150 a week in gas, $600 a month. I’m getting ill.
At regular low wages, that leaves about $100 a week for food, rent, utilities, and insurance. Forget fun and beer. You have to be brave to live in Ocean View.
And stores down there are like the gold rush days, they charge so much. Maybe they think they are on Mars and know people can’t get back to Earth to pay normal prices. They have you by the wallet.
Little things like bubble gum are $5.99. Small food items are $12. Anything larger is $20. Soon you’ll have to rent the shopping carts. An exaggeration, but not much.
There’s hope though, on Mondays If you buy a Big Mac you get an extra one for a dollar. On the other hand, in Waikoloa one lime costs $1.85.
But actually we have it good here. Mike, who works at Walmart, is a Canadian and told me that gas in Canada is $8 a gallon, same price for a gallon of milk. Taxes there are so high no one tips waiters or anyone else.
He said in Canada the only way you can tip is in a canoe.
Dennis Gregory writes a bi-monthly column for West Hawaii Today and welcomes your comments at makewavess@yahoo.com
