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Imagine spending $15 on a single hot dog
By adamg on Sat, 01/17/2009 - 11:46pm
Imagine no more. Would it surprise you to learn you can only buy it in the South End and not, say, Hyde Park?
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Comments
hmmm
...and you act surprised
For what?
$15 gets me what? Gruyere on a sausage? Feh.
I'd rather have a German Shepherd, Patriot Dog, and Junkyard Dog with a few bucks to spare instead.
Mmmmm
Now that you mention it, there's a Spike's right down the street -- and with Pitchers & Catchers less than a month away, a Ballpark Dog might be just the thing. Granted it's not French toast, but still...
Snappah Dogs
Did they ask if you wanted that "M & R" or "Drag it through the gahden"?!
Frugal Hot Dogs
Sullivan's hot dog stand at Castle Island in South Boston is closed for the winter but will be opening at the end of February. They serve inexpensive burgers, hot dogs and fries that really hit the spot. $15 bucks for one hot dog seems a little "over the top" to me.
No surprise
Our housing here is 15-times as expensive, too.
People spend $15 on a hot
People spend $15 on a hot dog because they want to experience the pleasure of being able to spend $15 on a hot dog. All luxury goods have a "pleasure of pissing away money" tax included in their prices.
Many years ago, my mother told me about women who would shop at Saks and pay $400 for a dress that was on sale in Filene's Basement for $40 just to bring the dress home the Saks shopping bag.
There is nothing wrong with this. Rich people pissing away money means more money circulating through the economy. If rich people ate $2 hot dogs, and then sat in a room full of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck, that would be a problem.
And the point of this
And the point of this article is...what? That some hot dog places don't accept food stamps?
mass hot dogs
Sullivan's is the best! Any of you folks ever been to Simco's? I haven't yet.
To me, the champ of the weird Massachusetts hot dog world is Teo's in Pittsfield.
Simco's
Darn you, now I'm sitting here hungry on top of a hill that really needs to have its roads plowed a bit before I try driving :-).
Somewhere..
Joe and Nemo are rolling over in their graves..
It's not about "pissing away money"...
And for the record, I am not rich. I just happen to love experiencing food trends on my street. And the hotdog is not your typical Oscar Mayer brand (which, also for the record, The Husband and I eat for dinner a few times a week grilled on the George Foreman)... It's made with unusual cuts of meat and stuffed at The Butcher Shop.
Yes, it is funny (and a little absurd) to say, "I spent $15 on a hotdog for dinner!" But you know what? It's one of those expenses I don't mind having... A treat.
If you can causally explain
If you can causally explain how you spend $15 on a hot dog as we teeter on the edge of a worldwide depression, you are rich - at least in your own mind.
Read The Theory of the Leisure Class, by Thorsten Veblen. Or at least Google it.
Deal with it
Rich because someone buys a $15 hot dog? Get real.
Face it, some people make/have more money than others, and are going to choose to dabble in some extravagances. Yes, some of these luxuries are ones that provide a lot of entertainment for the rest of us - acupuncture for their pets, Obama commemorative plate collectors, etc. And other luxuries just piss people off - $1000 designer handbags, mega-luxe spa visits, etc. Sometimes in life, you just need to spoil yourself, and even you do it NW. Some people do it with $15 hot dogs, others with travel, and others with fancy cars. When you're worth $100 million, a Porche 930 is like someone else's $15 hot dog.
Hey, over 11 years ago, I spent a ton of money on a nice bicycle. Do I feel guilty for buying it, while others are living in their cars? No, I don't. I choose how to indulge myself just like everybody else. To a LOT of people, spending $4K on a bicycle is absolutely inconceivable - a total waste of money. Meanwhile, they've got the giant screen TV and every cable TV package known to man. My TV is over 12 years old. Again, we choose our own indulgences.
So, enough of this working class bullshit, NW. What is important in these times is that those who are fortunate enough to have a job help those who may not be as fortunate.
Spoiling oneself!?! My so-called indulgences.
I'm glad for what I've got, and the most I've ever spent on something that I want are the two bicycles that I have; A mountain bike for traveling around town on errands, for appointments, etc., in the good weather, of course, and a 27-speed touring bike for long-distance riding out in the country on spring, fall and summer weekends.
An annual membership to the Coolidge Corner Theatre.
A pet Noble Macaw.
I also love my house and my work, and have a wonderfully supportive family, and a small network of friends, both of whom I dearly cherish. Do I feel guilty about having all that? Not in the least.
Are you telling people how to spend their money?
Gee, NotWhitey, and here I thought you were one of UHub's representatives of NeoSocial Darwinism when it came to Extreme Capitalism and TFB people are getting foreclosed on it must be their fault thinking. Are you now telling people with money how to spend their money? Egads, comrade, what happened to ya?
Oh, I guess it is simply tacky when it reminds you that other people have more money than you do.
Sorry missus
but when someone writes on and on about a hot dog it just reminds me of a friend who invited me to dinner one night at an expensive but not-that-good restaurant. We joined other friends, and they managed to order about 5 rounds of the same crab cake appetizer - the suburban style, consisting mostly of breadcrumbs, but priced as if the crabs had been hand raised from pups just for our dinner that night, at extraordinary expense, passed on to the diners.
The Friend must have used the word "sublime" about a dozen times as the conversation was repeatedly steered back to those damned breadcakes. Why? The price convinced them the food must be good.
Old people would compare this scenario to "the emperor's new clothes".
So, if people question you for carrying on so about a hot dog, there's precedent and you've played right into it.
Also, "the Husband." WTF kind of expression is that? It's grating as all hell. The Pet and I agree on that. The Child and I have not discussed it. The Friend also thinks it's kinda dumb. The Expert Who Will Not Be Named tried that once, a failed attempt to commune with the little people. We laughed at him.
I hope
that whoever is buying into this $15 hot dog obscenity gets a visit from the lay-off fairy.
In this economy where people don't have $15 to spend on food for their families, items like this show that some people still haven't gotten the message. Justify it whichever way makes you feel good, narcissistic yuppies.
First, read my note above
Finished?
Next, I'm not a $15-hot-dog-kind-of-guy either, but to each his/her own. I'm willing to go along with your rant about how people should be spending their own money as long as you do the following:
- Hang out outside a Best Buy and berate everybody walking out of that store with a box o' stuff because it certainly is something they do not NEED, and that money could be better spent by giving it to somebody in need.
- Go to a car dealer and berate everybody in there because they really don't NEED a new car and could very well get by with what they already have, or could at least go buy a used Corolla/Civic/etc. and give the difference to somebody in need
- Go to a mall and berate everybody carrying a shopping bag because they really don't NEED that stuff and should donate that money to somebody in need.
Bottom line; Don't tell me or anybody else how to spend my/our money. Unless you're living in the woods and eating squirrel meat, you too are a consumer and have your own extravagances, relative to somebody else. Even if it's just going out and grabbing a pizza and beer, there are a lot of people for whom that is a luxury. Rich is a relative thing, and there are a lot of people who may think you are a very rich person.
Fair's fair
The bozos dropping plastic at Best Buy aren't flogging the brilliance of their purchases before the world. Presumably, once they waddle their tubby selves the hell out of the mall, they're going to take those flat screens home, nail them to their walls, and sink into their 90 days same-as-cash couches until the spring thaw.
However, when someone decides to publicly publish an ebullient report about an overpriced but sublime $15 hot dog from a well-known-to-be overpriced meat shop, well, it's been understood for quite a long time that all such publication carries an invitation to critique, whether desired or not.
If you don't care to hear from the public, don't publish. E-mail the happy talk instead.
Not directed towards them
My comments were not directed towards the hot dog eaters/reviewers, but rather, towards the working class heroes who don't like where some people spend their money.