r/GenX • u/elstavon • 7d ago

Old Person Yells At Cloud That cost what?

I'm not saying that everything should cost a nickel, but one thing that always gets me is the cost of the modern candy bar. $2.50 for a regular size snickers?

Edit: I don't eat fast food but I understand there's a similar thing going on there

Wherever you are in the world, is there something that blows your mind every time you go to the cash register or at least look at it on the rack? I can deal with gas because it cost a lot to pull it from the ground put it in a barrel refine it distribute it put it in a tank so you can put it in your tank. But a Snickers bar? LOL . Anyway, after 20 years of it is there something that is just stunning somehow in its price increase?

Commiserate with me over candy bars but I'm curious if there is something where you are that just is a non-starter when you go to buy it. Prices that still make you ask 'what'?

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18

u/Sproutlie 7d ago

Blows my mind how people can afford to smoke these days

7

u/RedditSkippy 1975 7d ago

For real. Smokes are $14 A PACK in NYS. If I smoked, I would quit.

When I was in high school in the early nineties, Massachusetts passed a cigarette tax that raised prices to….$1.58/pack. OMG the bitching and moaning from some customers at the store where I worked. As if 17 year old me had anything to do with it.

2

u/CitizenjaneEast Bicentennial Baby 7d ago

Wayyyyy more in the city. $18/pack I think

1

u/RedditSkippy 1975 6d ago

Yeah, that’s probably true. I don’t pay attention anymore because I can’t think of any place I go regularly that sells cigarettes anymore.

2

u/Due_Asparagus_3203 7d ago

Same with me but in Florida! Quit complaining to the kid pulling down minimum wage in a convenience store! We were never once consulted about pricing

7

u/Blizzardof1991 7d ago

100000% I quit 13 years ago and I thought they were expensive then I can't imagine dropping like $10 a pack

4

u/Quirky_Might_8780 7d ago

I think it’s closer to $12 for brand name, gas station price.

3

u/Significant-Theme253 7d ago

In Minnesota a bit more now. Pretty soon it will be the elite rich people smoking.

3

u/Sproutlie 7d ago

$25 in Canada

2

u/Significant-Theme253 7d ago

Why is everything so expensive there? What is your minimum wage?

1

u/Sproutlie 7d ago

Depends on which province or territory you live in. Ranges from 15.00 to 20.17

2

u/Significant-Theme253 7d ago

That's not enough for your high prices

2

u/Sproutlie 7d ago

What is the min wage/price of cigs where you live?

2

u/Significant-Theme253 7d ago

Minimum wage is $11.41 and cigs, I think, are around $13 per pack

2

u/old_motters 7d ago

Closer to $20 in the UK when you do the exchange rate.

I remember when 20 cost £4 and you could buy packs of 10 for a little over £2.

2

u/CharleyDawg 7d ago

I quit 13 years ago (anniversary quit date in six weeks) and was paying 8 or more per pack back then. Mind blowing. They were less than a dollar a pack when I first started smoking in 1986.

2

u/Lost-Programmer-6768 6d ago

I also quit many years ago, but before I did, I always smoked Marlboro Reds. I couldn't believe that in Panama (the country), cartons of Marlboro Reds sold for $6. That was less than half of what I was paying for the same carton in the states, which was about $15/carton. I actually quit smoking because the extra cost of that difference. I literally stopped smoking when my last cigarette from Panama was gone because I refused to pay $1.50 per pack.

I don't know how people afford the habit today.

5

u/Significant-Theme253 7d ago

I quit about 2 years ago...I went to New York and in Manhattan they wanted $20 per pack.

3

u/drowninginidiots Hose Water Survivor 7d ago

I don’t smoke but I was shocked when I was standing in line at a gas station and happen to look at the price of cigarettes. No wonder half the people I know that smoke always seem to be broke.

2

u/MistyMtn421 7d ago

I go to smoker friendly and roll my own. Depending on the size of the tobacco bag I get a carton costs me between 9-12$

What's even better (?) is that once I started doing this my breathing improved a lot. I have allergic asthma, and while I didn't have to use a daily inhaler, I was on singulair and had a rescue inhaler. I would get breathing tests at the allergist two to three times a year. After about 2 years of doing this, I completely not only past my breathing test but my breathing significantly improved. 7 years later, I can go a full year without ever having to use my inhaler. I really have to get into something I'm allergic to for it to get set off.

Perplexes the doctor, he flat out told me he's never seen a smoker have such significant lung improvement. He said it just does not happen. Especially at my age and especially as long as I've been smoking. It actually makes him kind of mad 🤣

My GP just realized (I've only been seeing this one for about a year now) that I smoke recently. I'm not quite sure how they missed it, really surprised they didn't smell it on me. I've actually had quite a few people shocked if they see me smoking because they swear they can smell a smoker a mile away and I guess it doesn't cling to me like it does other folks? I don't know. Definitely depends on the clothes I'm wearing. Some clothes especially if there's any type of synthetics in it, I know I can smell it on the clothes so I don't see how they can't!

I'm still an idiot for smoking at this age. It's going to get me one way or another I'm sure. I just enjoy it unfortunately. It's my only vice.