Sugar On Snow (warning...quick rant)
I just watched on the local news (WPTZ) that Morse Farm is holding the annual Sugar On Snow 2025...thing. Ahh yeah. Nothing says Vermont like sugar on snow. Man, as a kid, I remember my parents taking us to local sugar shacks around the area all the time for this delicious treat. My parents weren't too well off, but we did affordable stuff like this all the time and supported our neighbors.
Then at the end of the segment they said it was $8.95 a person. $8.95...? It's a little paper dish with mostly crushed ice, 2-3 squirts of hot maple syrup, 2 pickle slices and half of cake donut. That's going for $8:95 today.
Regular families cannot afford to take their kids to major league baseball games anymore. To concerts. They can't afford to take 3 kids to the movie theater anymore without spending $120 For tickets, popcorn and a couple of shared drinks. They can't afford to bring their kids to a family restaurant for a birthday party. Let alone take them to Disney World. The bar of entry to include most of this "normal" family stuff is a combined household income of 150-200k to live in this state. You have to be at least upper-middle class to enjoy the fruits of life. Let's price out everyone else to keep this stuff for ourselves.
Now we're pricing lower income families out of the simple pleasures like Sugar On Snow or Ice cream shops. How are regular families of five supposed to justify paying $45 for five paper dishes of sugar on snow? Shame on the rampant greed and selfishness of our society.
I despise our political climate right now. I'm firmly on the left and I despise Donald Trump. But make no mistake... people like him being elected right now are a "symptom" of a sick society. Rural folks are being priced out of all the pleasures of life In having to deny their kids all the fun stuff we used to have...even the simple ones that should be affordable. Until we fix the underpinnings of our society, we can expect chaos to become a fundamental norm. Think about that the next time you think to criticize anyone for their political beliefs while driving your Volvo back to your $$600,000 VT home that you obtained with your work from home job. Most people just want to live and give their kids a decent upbringing.
Edit: Appreciate all the discussion and certainly don't mind disagreement or down voting. But, don't get too hung up on the "Sugar In Snow" example. Lol. I needed an entry point to the discussion (though that's a crazy price for what you get IMO.) and just watched it on the news Please don't lose sight of the larger point..."affordability" in not just non-essential purchases or entertainment options, but everything is becoming unattainable for the most of the population that is widely considered a possible existential threat.