Let's say you come down from camp to shop in a small town. Several things almost make you believe you are in a foreign country. You are in line at the grocery store, and still burning from the confiscatory prices, as an old lady holds up the line by writing a check. People still do things like that?!
Or they hold up the line by buying chew or smokes, while the checkout person fumbles around unlocking the case; or they need lottery tickets while the checkout person grimaces at some electronic screen. Then the customer holds up the line even more by taking the time to scratch the back of the lottery tickets.
And you think that you really don't envy people in this little town. For one thing, the cost-effectiveness of living in this little town always seemed over-rated. Sure, they save money on housing, but that is all they save on. They always underestimated the cost of transportation, but now...
Anyway, I hope small town stores do more business in the future, as customers unlearn the habit of jumping in their car to drive 50 miles one-way to buy $20 of groceries for $18, while patting themselves on the back for "saving money."
I suppose if a rural person only takes a trip to the big boxes every couple weeks, brings a cooler along, or shares a ride with a neighbor, it still might pay.
Dealing with high inflation should be easier for someone who has had experience as an international traveler: they have learned to make a sport out of being flexible in each country they visit. Some ordinary things become strangely difficult or expensive in Country X, and the traveler doesn't really understand why. They simply have to accept that that is 'the way things are', and work around it as much as possible. In some ways it is liberating to break old habits and vices, and to see an immediate financial payback.
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