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Notes -
My father would regularly take us out to a burrito place after swim practice, especially if my mom was out pet sitting for someone. Because it was getting late and we were hungry and he's the man so he only cooks fancy meals on special occasions not dinnerslop. This was before Chipolte was as big as it is now, but it was basically the same concept - and affordable.
And we'd get take-out cheese pizza weekly on Fridays because we're Cathoilc.
It used to be that McDonalds and Carls Jr and other fast food things were affordable to someone in the middle class. Not every day, but weekly. And a monthly sit down restaurant on birthdays or other lesser holidays.
My parents would also comment that when they were kids they couldn't afford meat every day and that we were lucky. And so maybe my kids are better off than that. Though in the last few years we've had a lot of intentionally meatless weeks, now that I think of it.
The standard of living rose. Maybe only a handful of generations got to feel it, but for a few decades things actually were quite good. And now they are declining. Maybe that decline is to a baseline that's still pretty good. But a certain demographic sees the decline in their own lifetime.
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