The Dollar Menu
Somehow the people who can barely afford to scrape by are continually picking up the tab for the richest people in the country.
Broadcast on The Mike Malloy Show March 21, 2011.
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Below is an excerpt. To read the rest of the words go here http://www.voicesinourheads.com/2011/03/21/dollar-menu/
A 7 year old station wagon rolls into the parking lot of a national burger chain on a Friday night. A family of four gets out of the car and goes into the brightly lit store. In the Mom’s arms is a little boy, about two years old, and a little girl, probably a first grader, is holding Dad’s hand.
The Dad takes the toddler from the mother’s arms and goes over near the condiment table where he takes one of the high chairs stacked up in the corner. He slides the child into the seat, buckles up the safety straps, and scoots the giggling boy in the chair over to a nearby table. He looks over at his wife and little girl standing in line waiting to order. Coming here on a Friday night, at least once every couple of weeks, has become their routine. They both work, and after picking up the boy from day care, and their daughter from her after school program, the idea of throwing together dinner at the last minute sometimes just seems like … too much … after a long long work week.
His daughter is looking at a display of toys. Each week a different toy comes with The Kid’s Meal … one of the characters from the latest kid’s movie. The Dad thinks ruefully to himself that this week she’ll have the whole set … and they haven’t even seen the movie yet. And they won’t until the DVD comes out. The last time they went to a movie, the budget was completely blown. The babysitter was $20, tickets for two adults and a child came to over $30, and a medium popcorn with a couple of small cokes was almost $15. It’s hard to justify laying out $65 just to see a movie when you’re counting the pennies.
