The Economy

Hushpuppies
Hushpuppies sum up the economy pretty well. Every southerner knows good hushpuppies. While much older, the popularity really came out of the all-you-can eat fish camps. While you waited for the main event, baskets of hushpuppies were brought out to the table so everyone would fill up on hushpuppies and not eat as much seafood. That was a pretty smart business model. Fill your customers up with a few pennies worth of cornmeal, and they didn't cut into your profit margin on dollars with a shrimp.
Several years ago, my wife and I went to a new seafood place that opened locally. As we sat there, we never got hushpuppies. I finally asked and was told we could order some off the appetizer menu if we wanted. WTF? The owner/manager/whatever - NOT local (yankee) - came around and asked how we liked the place. I unloaded about the hushpuppies. He said they couldn't just be giving out hushpuppies because they'd have to raise prices on meals. OK. Fine. We have have never been back, and I have made it a point to tell every tourist who asks, "Don't go there."
So, how much has a few cents worth of hushpuppies cost that business over the years? They are still open during the summer months, so not enough to matter I guess, but I don't know any local who go there during the off season.
Fast forward to this week. My wife and I are club members at a local winery. We eat at the bistro about every other month. We don't even need menus because we know what we are going to eat and which bottle of wine we will order to go along with it. The place has always brought out a small basket of its artisan crackers with your bottle of wine. Well, Wednesday, no crackers. I asked about it. The server said they no longer did that, but we could order some. I balked, but my wife said bring them. We ate. The owner, who I know, came in. I got his attention and mentioned the crackers. I told him tack on an extra quarter to each bottle of wine or meal, and no one would be the wiser because we don't look at the menu or prices, anyway. Bring me a half dozen crackers. Your customers are happy. But when my check comes, and I've been charged $12 for a basket of crackers and some cream cheese, I sure as heck notice.

 

I have bought three used cars in my life. The first one I bought was for $750 in 1981. The transmissions tarted to grab while I was driving it home. The bought the second car from the Lutheran church. I bought the third one, brought it home and took the family for a spin. I stopped for gas and the manifold blew.

I buy new now.

 

Increasingly, online shopping is happening on smaller screens. More than half of all online sales on Black Friday -- 57.6% -- were on mobile screens, according to Adobe. That's up from 55.5% last year.

Golly, who'da thunk? It's 100% for me.

Last time I used a big screen for personal use was when I filed my income tax return.

 

I lucked into finding a 2009(!) Civic with only 16.5K miles last January. A 15-year-old car with barely 15 months of driving on it.

Last time I had an odometer reading that low was 1999.

 

I miss driving that generation Civic. Some technology but not too much, and I liked the styling better than all the subsequent Civics.

 

There is a small restaurant group (I’m not sure three locations qualifies as a chain) in middle Tennessee called Demos that does steaks and chicken dishes and most famously 10 different types of pasta, highlighted by the brown butter spaghetti (or as it says on the menu - “The reason Doris married Jim.”)

This place not only had great food, it served it at prices that ranged from a good deal to ridiculously cheap. Basically any time someone hinted at being in downtown Nashville I was recommending this place to them and getting thanked afterward. Eating there became my ritual on annual trips to see the Predators play.

But bit by bit over the last 6-8 years things began to change, not coincidentally as the son began taking more control and devoting more time to his more upscale brand extension restaurant under his name. The food was still very good, but not quite excellent. The steaks were not quite the tender, buttery ideal they once were. The complementary cheese rolls weren’t quite as soft and fresh as before. And the prices even before Covid had caught up to its competitors and sometimes even slightly exceeded them. What was once a wonderful experienced was now merely a good one and sometimes slipped down to “fine.”

But the real turning point was the soup.

The chicken and rice soup is the star of the menu. Nothing elaborate but chunks of chicken plus rice in a broth of chicken stock, olive oil and just the right pinch of seasonings. And you previously got as many cups as you could eat with an entree.

Now it is one measly cup. I can buy a $13 pasta plate or a $25 steak and get one measly cup of soup the size of my fist. And with that, the goodwill was gone and it became just another place to eat. The downtown location closed in Sept. 2020 and now they’re only in the suburbs. They still do steady business but it isn’t a struggle to find parking anymore.

Again it is still a good restaurant. But it used to be special.

 

I felt the same about O’Charley’s.
The fact of the matter is the things that made Nashville special are no more. Full stop.

edit: why did you have to go mention the brown butter spaghetti??? That’s an earworm for my mouth.

 

Oh, Demos. Where instead of just bringing you a glass of tea you get unsweet tea and a pitcher of sugar water. I don't think I've ever eaten at the one in Nashville, but I've more than once been to Murfreesboro and Lebanon. The bread is good. In Murfreesboro, I prefer Toot's. In Lebanon, I'd prefer to be on my way.
This reminds me of a time I was with a group of geezers in Nashville, and we were sorting out where to eat. The normal go to on this type of deal was Cock of the Walk or Gerst Haus. They wanted to go to Ruby Tuesday. Really?

 

I've never driven a late-model Civic, but I think they look sharp. They seem to come in colors other than gray, black and white, too.

 

There are a lot of stupid deep discounts on Black Friday weekend all over. It's not just one day anymore. Black Friday proper isn't what it used to be at all since covid.

Friday morning at my side hustle was completely dead. We opened at 6 and by the time I came in at 7:30 my boss said we had zero (!!!) customers.