Brain recalibration - a cost of living/modern life thread

Petrol was 140p per litre in 2012, so that's not really gone crazy (on average) since then, has it?

Less coffee less water. "Italian Style" is 14g of coffee from 7g of coffee whereas the hipster coffee movement has moved this on (rightly IMO) to taking around 30s to get 30-40g from 16-20g of coffee...

I'm not sure it's the artists that are benefiting as much as companies like Ticketmaster, but then there were similar issues with record companies back in the days of records

Pearl Jam are charging £250 (plus swingeing and unjustified ticketmaster fees) for standing in what looks like a very large area at the front in a stadium, where I paid £125 (plus fees) for a pretty small front area at blur which is already pricey. That's not ticketmaster doing that.

Who is going to pay that? I saw them in their prime for less than the cost of a CD.

Why not see someone in their prime?

Yes, basically they move faster than the sloths that populate our cafes. They multi task, they plan what to do first… here they can only do one thing at a time, taking ages to perform very basic tasks.

You just have to go to an Italian restaurant run by Italians in London… waiters whizz around at supersonic speeds, carry 4 or 5 plates at a time… here they walk slowly with no more than two plates, so you need 3 waiting staff for 20 customers, which is ridiculous

My local Indian… I used to pay 50 pounds for 2, now it is about 60… that’s a 20% increase over 2 years of high inflation and that seems fair enough. Local pubs drinks seem to have gone up by a similar amount.

My local cafes instead seem to have put up prices by about 50-60% over the same period… are they facing different costs or they are just taking advantage? I am inclined to think it’s the latter.

I ,on the other hand, resisted an offer on Cruzcampo 66cl for 1.95 a bottle… probably a mistake, as I am quite thirsty now…

Got tickets for Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets in June at £65 per. Happy with that: saw them back in 2022, one of the best live gigs evah! Has Gary Kemp on lead, Guy Pratt on bass... But can't recall how much tickets cost 2 years ago. But don't care.

What does piss me off is seeing Tesco prices continually jack up, e.g. on beers and on basics, talking 20% - 40% year on year. Gotta fund increasing dividends innit.

Japanese - bet that was interesting.

One of the best bits I went to was a triple tribute act down at the 100 Club - 3 bands doing tributes of Ramones, Clash and the Pistols. £13 a ticket.

or anywhere else… it’s only in this country that they seem to get away without actually learning the trade. They are not paid too badly and they do get tips, which I am sure in Portugal they don’t… and yet, they seem to be totally useless.

In most of Europe as a waiter you have to be fast, efficient, be able to carry safely several dishes, you need to be chatty with clients, but not overwhelming, typically you can speak several languages, even just basic translation of the dishes names, prices etc. On top of that, there are desirables like:

Be able by looking at your customers hands to tell whether to recommend a 20-or a 200 euro bottle of wine.

Be able to flirt, but not to a point to annoy the partner, with the aim to get a tip, if it makes sense to do so.

Be able to advise on local dishes, specialties and just by looking in the eyes, whether they are there for 3 courses or just a main.

Be able to accommodate customers, even when the restaurant is apparently full, by being creative.

Be able to draw in undecided customers, who might be looking at the menu outside.

There are so many skills, here they typically have none.

same everywhere, it’s not that in Italy they get more… but this is no excuse not to learn a trade, which might come in handy, as it happens that skills are transferrable(most of the ones I listed above are). The problem is that here there is no training and there are no expectations and therefore any warm body who can walk and has two arms is good enough for the job. If employees have no push and incentive to get better, they won’t. Service is paid at the same rate, pretty much regardless of quality, so you know youbare going to get 10% by simply carrying some plates, and you won’t get 25% for going above and beyond… and even if you did, you would have to share it with the other lazy lot… there is no culture of serving, which is seen as something you do in between jobs or as a way to make ends meet. If you could hire a waiter that does the job of two, would you not be happy to pay them more than minimum?

I suspect a large number of the qualities we are ascribing to foreign service staff come from the positive frame of mind that comes with being on holiday.

The standard seems to be worse since COVID, and increasingly every restaurant seems to be either a chain or a gastro pub, neither of which seem likely to encourage superior service.

I think the notion of it being seen as a 'bad job' is the crux of it in the UK. Hospitality is treated as a career in Europe and held in high regard, in the UK it is seen as a service industry (I suspect largely as a hangup of class divisions) and something you do for a bit of cash until a 'real' career comes along. It just isn't part of UK culture and isn't viewed as aspirational in the main.

There is a slight difference at very high end restaurants where prestige at working at a Michelin star level is looked upon more favourably, but obviously only a few operate at this level.

I think there is a boom in good independent coffee shops where the owners are passionate about their product and offer a good service though.