Subject: Re: McDonald’s and Starbucks' U.S. sales are down
We almost never go to fast-food joints. When we do eat out, it's generally in very ethnic places (Turkish or Middle Eastern bakeries, Chinese places in Chinese neighborhoods, Mexican places in Mexican neighborhoods and so on (and even more frequently, in some "emerging market" country).

This morning, my wife had a doctor's appointment so, in case of a blood test, we didn't eat breakfast before leaving. We ate at a diner near the doctor's office (nothing special, a couple of omelets and two cups of coffee) which, after tax and tip, set us back 60 bucks. Frankly, maybe my "recent" memory of prices is a couple of decades old, but that provided quite a bit of sticker shock.

We just topped up our stock of coffee. My "go to" (when I'm not splurging on Illy) is Costco Kirkland Columbian Supreme in 3 pound cans. The price has increased by 4 bucks over the past three weeks. About a year ago it was three bucks and change a pound and now it's over $7 a pound.

I'm old enough to remember when restaurant menus had adhesive tape over the prices so stat new prices could be written weekly (now a days, some restaurants simply provide a QR codde to access their current pricing.

Some of us have seen this movie before, but some are just too young.

Jeff