Rendering unto Caesar (3)

Celebrities or politicians used to be asked if they knew the price of a pint of milk or a loaf of bread. I don't think they do it any more, probably because milk now comes in numerous different varieties and sizes. Even with added omega 3, which I thought came from fish - can you imagine a sardine milkshake? Perhaps this is popular in Portugal. And as for bread, I remember when there was just Homepride, which was plasticky and stuck to your teeth, also available in brown (same taste and consistency, just a different colour).

Anyway, they asked them that question to see how out of touch they were, since they wouldn't be doing their own shopping. I always do my own, of course I do, myself, on foot, and I pay in cash. Usually I buy a bit less than twenty quid's worth, because that's what I've got on me. I never Switch it. Which means I should know how much everything costs, because I'm keeping a running tally on the way to the checkout so as not to end up embarrassingly over cash in pocket. But I'm b------d if I can remember how much milk costs. Or eggs, they reckon they've gone up by a third in the last however long, can't say I noticed. I always get the extra large ones, if it didn't make the hen's eyes water on the way out then it's not worth cracking open.

So there's meant to be lots of inflation, but its passed me by. Beer's been costing silly money since a couple of years after I started going to pubs, so no change there. Cinema tickets are through the roof, but that's just a zone 1 thing. If you go to the UCI in Beckton you can get two seats for a double bill of, with popcorn and a Westler's hot dog thrown in, for about four shillings and thrupence-ha'penny. Or at least that's what I've heard. Most of my books come from second-hand places where you find the out of print stuff, so that's cheap. I don't think I buy much else, except for coffee beans. Clothes, they're all made in the sort of places Blue Peter used to tell us to send garments to not so long ago, so I'm glad that's sorted out. You can get a cotton shirt with genuine blood from a nine year old stitcher's mangled fingers in the seams, for about £1.75, world trade, eh, can't beat it.