I had a friend from England once describe to me the difference between Brits and Americans. If a fancy car with a fat cat drove by an American, the Yank would think, “I’m going to be like that guy someday” where the working class Brit would say, “He’s going to be like me someday.”
Well that day has pretty much arrived and I’d say the Brits have won.
The economy is bad. No one can stop writing about it, thinking about it, strategizing ways to make money off of it.
See Gourmet Magazine, long of the Eating the Four Star Lifestyle, at Four Star Prices and Viking appliance ads now including tips on how to stretch that food dollar, Leftovers: They’re Not Just for Broke Losers Anymore. Over at Food & Wine, a long time favorite of mine, their entry into the economic swoon – other than sort of pink slipping great wine writer Lettie Teague - is at least having Ms. T continue the Wine Matters column, this month focusing on the least expensive bottle of wine on a wine list.
My simple question is, why weren’t these types of stories being run anyway, perhaps as a way to gain readership among these publications. For when the Bernie Madoff’s of the world and his suddenly less well-off friends (along with anyone else who gets a 401K statement each month) stop dining out and traveling to France, Spain & Italy, ad pages decline to the tune of 42% for Gourmet and 30% for F & W. At the same time, titles like Everyday with Rachael Ray, which caters to “regular” folk is up 7%.
For many of her viewers and readers, this blogger included – she brings me back to my two years spent in Upstate NY – we’ve been living this way since long before Wall Street decided to take our money with them to Greenwich. I buy wine at Trader Joes, my lunches are generally leftovers, we’ve always preferred to find some group of friends to eat with on Sunday night rather than go out. And I suspect most of you are drifting in the same boat too. So why has it taken the glum news to shake us of habits we should have been avoiding anyway? What happened to everything in moderation?
I won’t go so far as to say that I’m glad we are facing these tough times (see: my 401K) but I do see the value (pun intended) to losing the glutton of the past and instead focusing on not only the here and now, but understanding that if you’re drinking great wine that cost $250.00 and I’m drinking great wine that cost $10, we’re both drinking great wine.
Thus, who needs to be the fat cat in the fancy car anyway? Lets meet in the middle and all be Aussies instead!
