He didn’t have a response right off. After a few minutes he looked at me and said, “Never thought of it that way before.” He picked up his tab from the counter. “How much was a cup of coffee and a slice of pie back in 1980?”
“Most places? Forty cents for a cup of coffee and a slice of pie would set you back for about $1.25”
“Well, adjusted for inflation, $4.85 today seems about right. Not all that much more now than then.”
“True,” I said, “except that today you have less discretionary income to spend on pie and coffee then you did in 1979, thus it actually costs you more to enjoy it today than it did back then.”
“Well, got me there, I suppose.”
He shook his head and walked toward the register to pay his tab.
I went back to finishing my egg-custard pie. As I was taking a bite, I thought back on the movie I had seen earlier. If only we could develop a power source similar to Tony’s “Ark Reactor,” but on a much larger scale that would not only propel our vehicles, but also provide energy for entire cities.
In the movie, Tony (aka Iron Man) is referred to as the “da Vinci” of our time. Today, more than ever, we need real Leonardo da Vincis to address the myriad of problems we’re faced with today - not just with oil dependence, but also with the depletion of other natural resources, pollution, emerging economies in third world countries, and global poverty.
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Article comments
1 - Diana Hartman
Thank you for your contribution to the Culture section of Blogcritics. Your article has been selected as today's feature on Culture's Front Page.
2 - Joanne Huspek
Great post! You've covered just about everything. I can't add more.
3 - Scot
Thanks, Joanne:
Appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.
Scot