What’s With the Price of Eggs?

Know what’s bothering me a lot lately? The rising cost of eggs. Yes, eggs. They’re nearly seven dollars for a pack of 18. At one time, you could have bought that batch for less than five dollars. That’s a 29 percent change in a matter of months.  It upsets me because this price increase is impacting every dining experience we have.

Take the past week. I’ve noticed that all the regulars I visit during lunch have increased their menu items by a dollar or two. That may not mean much to some people, but when you run the numbers, it leads to high percentage increases – and that’s only over the past week. Never mind the price increases we’ve experienced over the past year.

Now, we’ve been through rising price phases before, but I distinctly remember that when the cost of dining out became too expensive, then the cost of eating at home was less stressful. These days, eating out and buying groceries is the same frustrating experience. It has me wondering how in the world the impoverished are dealing. It’s enough to make celebratory experiences really painful too.

Take my dining experience last night as an example. It was my son’s birthday, so I treated him to a one-on-one dinner at a seafood place. He loves seafood. I don’t but figured it was his birthday, so what the heck. When I received the check, I nearly wet my pants. I’ve eaten at this establishment before. The food is excellent, the service great, but my check had nearly tripled from my last visit. I couldn’t believe it, but I kept my mouth zipped, paid the hostess and went on my way.

Many people on social media want to know whether things will ever go back to normal again. That means watching prices drop to their pre-inflationary period. We’re told they should, which is why the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates, but that seems like a long shot with what I’m seeing out there. Seven dollars for 18 eggs? Who would have known we would ever get to this point? And I chose eggs as an example because everywhere I go, everyone wants to know why the hell eggs are so expensive these days.

You can’t blame them for harping on such a mundane topic. You would think that with everything that’s going on these days – Ethiopia, Pakistan, Ukraine – and to bring this a little closer to home – California, New York, Texas – you would figure these folks would be interested in other topics. Nope, they want to discuss the price of eggs.  And I say, good for them! If there’s one way to catch the attention of those “powers” to be, is to have eggs become the latest trending topic.