Arrested Development aired from 2003 through 2008. The average price of bananas during that time was around $0.62/lb. The average price currently is still $0.62/lb.
So…. No. Not “good old days.” Is more like same old days- if all we are using is a banana for scale.
Yeah, bananas are a singularly bad example to show inflation because, for some reason, they became so associated with the idea of “cheap” that when supermarkets increase their price any way it makes the entire supermarket be considered as expensive, so supermarket chains are locked in a standoff over its price.
Unfortunately, this is being subsided by the workers that aren’t getting paid a living wage to produce the bananas, and it seems we are close to a breaking point, so there might be a price realignment soon.
I think banana production is also significantly less labor intensive than most other fresh fruits.
The trees grow in season-less climates where they can be planted and harvested at any time of year, so the steady work requirements can use a fixed number of workers rotating fields (contrast to seasonal harvests where a surge of workers need to be brought in for a few critical weeks, and not paid the rest of the year, so that the unavailability of year round work for the workers can turn exploitative, especially in employer-provided transportation and housing).
The actual characteristics of the plant grows a lot of fruit in bunches, where a single worker can cut off a single bunch containing 25-65 kg of fruit, and where the bunch can be subdivided easily into crates for shipping. So on a per-kilogram or per-fruit basis, the human labor tends to be much more efficient than other plants where each fruit might be picked by hand individually.
The fruit itself can ripen off the plant, and naturally comes in a tough protective exterior, which means they can be processed and shipped with minimal protections against rough handling or bruising, and don’t need much in the way of washing or waxing or things like that.
And that’s why advocates for fair wages in the banana industry correctly argue that increasing labor costs wouldn’t make bananas all that much more expensive, either. Labor is just too small a proportion of the overall cost, because the workers are so productive.
This was always wrong as a meme though. They weren’t talking about price of bananas at the store. It was a frozen chocolate banana dessert stand in LA on the beach. 10 dollars isn’t an unreasonable price for basically a food truck item, her guess was higher than the actual price listed but it’s not unreasonable like the quote suggests.
In an early episode where they’re taking money from the till, and George Michael says his dad checks the banana inventory to make sure the money matches up, it’s $1 per banana. Pretty cheap price in that context, but that’s the in-universe price.
I read this as being some time in the future, when the monoculture of bananas currently dominating planting has succumbed to sickness and bananas no longer exist in any form but special orders from hyper specialized grow houses and they cost a small fortune to obtain.
Every year we watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and every year Sally’s request for Santa to bring her “tens and twenties”—intended at the time to be a ridiculous sum, to show how commercialized Christmas is—becomes less unreasonable.
Actually, I think a year or two ago it flipped, and started to seem like a comically low amount. I’m just waiting for my kids to ask why Charlie Brown is so disgusted by such a small request.
That aired in 1965. Using $50 as a sort of reasonable base, that is worth $500.78 today.
Whoa. I hadn’t done the calculation to see what it should have been, but yikes.
And flipped the other way, listening to “how about tens and twenties?” feels to the modern ear like “how about singles and twos?”
I mean, it’s an odd request, but hardly extravagant in those denominations.
I would think “tens and twenties” means plural of both, so $60 at minimum. But who wants the minimum? I’d think she meant $90, at least.
My fist experience with peanuts was the school forcing us to watch the special “why charlie Brown, why”
So I’ve always considered it to be kinda of depressing. Also I’m not sure why exactly they needed all students to see that special… Was there alot of leukemia bullying going on back then? Was i supposed to be checking myself for leukemia? What message was I supposed to be taking from that beyond “life kinda sucks sometimes”
No idea. It’s the second most confusing inspirational story we were subjected to at that school.
Edit: off topic but if anyone is curious about the #1 confusing story: Local rich guy on career day. All is kids in the auditorium. He tells us a story about growing up poor but admiring a rich man’s Rolex. He worked and saved for several summers. He bought a Rolex and showed his father. His father smashed it and tossed into the fire. Now he’s rich but never bought another Rolex. No clue what the point was. If you work hard you can achieve your dream? That people will try to smash your dreams? Spend money wisely? Sometimes father’s are dicks? No clue. Someone thought it was important enough to bus all three middle schools over to hear it. Again all I learned was that life can be kinda shitty. I’m nearly 40 now. Never forgot that story, never figured out the point. If you’re out there local small town rich dude… The fuck was the point of that story? What message were you trying to drive home? Over 25 years …always remembered it, never figured it out. What was the idea you were trying to pass on to over 1,000 kids because you certainly didn’t foster change, only a lot of confusion.
i mean, i think it just helps children to emotionally navigate a serious illness, which is something that everyone eventually experiences. if you’re fortunate enough to experience it after you’ve built up some emotional resiliency and coping mechanisms, that’s great, but otherwise it can be really distressing and overwhelming for kids.
It’s about a community coming together in support of their friend experiencing something horrible. A bunch of kids shaving their heads in solidarity with their (potentially dying) friend is pretty inspirational
Unlimited XKCD scrolling started.
Inflation isn’t linear, it follows an exponential curve. Come on, this is Econ 101.
Yes, so if you look closer, the y axis is a logarithmic scale, indicating that straight lines are actually exponential growth.
Oh alright then. My mistake.
Randal doesn’t miss.
“What’s a banana?”
“A unit of measurement often used to determine scale.”
Yo I paid $4 for like a handful of kale the other day
My rabbit preferred romaine hearts, cheaper too I think.
I’m afraid I prematurely shot my wad on what was supposed to be a dry run… So to speak. Now I’m left with sort of a mess on my hands.
I stopped watching when they were mocking one of the characters for having an anxiety disorder. The writing and structure are clever, but that show punches down way too much.
The show is about terrible people. You’re not supposed to think what they do is acceptable. If they only did acceptable things, you’d have a hard time believing they were the terrible people that the show is supposed be about.
It seems you missed the entire point of the show
What was the title of that show again 😉
It’s not like I prefer not to enjoy things. I’d rather enjoy more things.
Have a cookie for enjoying the show I guess.
That’s the point. Just like with the price of bananas, the show pokes fun at how old money families can be so disconnected from reality.
We were invited to laugh along at the guy collapsed and hyperventilating on the floor, no thanks.
That’s fair.
Dark humor is like food. Not everyone gets it.
See that’s actually funny. The sentence can be interpreted on multiple levels, there’s an element of surprise when you figure it out, there’s wordplay.
“Haha guy is on the floor having a panic attack” has none of that.
Compare to “there’s always money in the banana stand”, which is a brilliant setup and payoff. That’s the kind of stuff that makes me love a show. Wish it had worked for me overall.
Hey man, that joke is a little dark …
… Waiiiit a minute!
That reminds me of the time I stopped watching always sunny in Philadelphia because they made fun of a guy with rickets. let’s keep it above the belt comedy shows. No cheap shots.
Always Sunny is almost nothing but cheap shots, and it consistently makes me laugh and then feel bad about said laughing.
