Greg M. Johnson wrote:
> So, is babies-wailing a cultural thing?  If you go to restaurants in
> different corners of Europe or Asia (or the world), is wailing the norm in
> some parts?  Or does it take a lot of disposable income & time to keep
> snacks and toys ready for a kid the moment he peeps?   Or can there be
> geographic concentrations of actual indifference to babies' well-being?

Babies getting fussy doesn't bother me as much as the way the parents
handle it. If I see that they take a bit of time, and try to figure out
why the kid is upset, then a noisy baby doesn't bother me. The things
that really ruin a day out is when the parents just talk louder and
ignore the kid, or get the restaurant to turn up the TV or music.

I think, having grown up in rural areas, that a noisy baby is more
disturbing or distressing when at a nice quiet restaurant than at a
local pizza dive. In a small town, a baby sitter can cost as much or
more then a short dinner. And, having been part of the loud college
crowd at our local pizza joint, I think we were more annoying then any
loud baby ever could have been.

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On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:55:21 -0500, Sabrina Kilian wrote:

> You guys are making me hungry, and I haven't even really woken up. Time
> to fire up the stove, carrot soup seems right for this weather.

Mmmmm, now there's something I haven't had in a while.

>>> fresh cut grass, (for me anyway).
> 
> Fresh cut grass? Okay, that might have just ruined my appetite.

LOL!  I think fresh cut grass is enhanced by the smell of a recent 
rainshower (or perhaps it's the other way around).

Jim

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St. wrote:
>      It reminds me of when I was kid and we 'always' called them hamburgers. 
> Now you never hear it, it's always 'beefburgers' here.

Wow. I've never heard that. At most, it's "all-beef hamburgers" if 
someone's trying to make a point.

>     Mmmm... the smell of fresh-baked bread is to die for... The same as 
> fresh cut grass, (for me anyway).

My allergies are bad enough I *want* to die after cutting the grass, yes.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     It's not feature creep if you put it
     at the end and adjust the release date.

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> So, is babies-wailing a cultural thing?  If you go to restaurants in
> different corners of Europe or Asia (or the world), is wailing the norm in
> some parts?  Or does it take a lot of disposable income & time to keep
> snacks and toys ready for a kid the moment he peeps?   Or can there be
> geographic concentrations of actual indifference to babies' well-being?

Depends on the standard of "restaurant".  Places like McD's know that if 
they banned screaming kids they wouldn't make any money.  More expensive 
places know that if they didn't ban screaming kids (or at least make it 
clear they are not welcome) they wouldn't make any money...

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"Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message 
news:475c3e4d@news.povray.org...
> On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:24:07 -0800, Darren New wrote:
>
>> Incidentally, in the US, it's often cheaper to eat out at an inexpensive
>> restaurant (like pizza of McD) than to buy fresh food to prepare at
>> home. That's why poor people get fat here.
>
> I don't know about cheaper, but easier it certainly is.  Especially with
> a bunch of kids that need to be fed.

Cheaper. Subsidized corn makes up the most used ingredient in everything on 
the menu at a place like McDonalds. From the filler in the meat (and what do 
they feed the meet factories? corn... they feed corn to an animal that is 
specialized to eat grassy greens. wtf), to the breading around the meat, the 
buns, french fries (what potatos?), beverage and salad dressing.

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Ross <rli### [at] speakeasynet> wrote:
> "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message 
> news:475c3e4d@news.povray.org...
> > On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:24:07 -0800, Darren New wrote:
> >
> >> Incidentally, in the US, it's often cheaper to eat out at an inexpensive
> >> restaurant (like pizza of McD) than to buy fresh food to prepare at
> >> home. That's why poor people get fat here.
> >
> > I don't know about cheaper, but easier it certainly is.  Especially with
> > a bunch of kids that need to be fed.

> Cheaper. Subsidized corn makes up the most used ingredient in everything on 
> the menu at a place like McDonalds. From the filler in the meat (and what do 
> they feed the meet factories? corn... they feed corn to an animal that is 
> specialized to eat grassy greens. wtf), to the breading around the meat, the 
> buns, french fries (what potatos?), beverage and salad dressing.

  It may be cheaper if you want to eat the *same* food you get from the
restaurants. However, I'm sure that one can come up with cuisine that's
actually cheaper and equally (if not even more) nutritive..

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Ross wrote:
> "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message 
> news:475c3e4d@news.povray.org...
>> On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:24:07 -0800, Darren New wrote:
>>
>>> Incidentally, in the US, it's often cheaper to eat out at an inexpensive
>>> restaurant (like pizza of McD) than to buy fresh food to prepare at
>>> home. That's why poor people get fat here.
>> I don't know about cheaper, but easier it certainly is.  Especially with
>> a bunch of kids that need to be fed.
> 
> Cheaper. Subsidized corn makes up the most used ingredient in everything on 
> the menu at a place like McDonalds. From the filler in the meat (and what do 
> they feed the meet factories? corn... they feed corn to an animal that is 
> specialized to eat grassy greens. wtf), to the breading around the meat, the 
> buns, french fries (what potatos?), beverage and salad dressing.

I've been to McDonald's.  I've been to the grocery store.  The grocery 
store is only more expensive if you insist on buying prepared foods.  I 
have built lunches for less than a dollar each by shopping in bulk; 
these meals were not as entertaining as some people would find to their 
liking, but they were nutritionally adequate.

People who can afford *any* restaurant on a regular basis are not poor, 
and any definition of poor that includes such people is faulty.

Regards,
John

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John VanSickle <evi### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> People who can afford *any* restaurant on a regular basis are not poor,
> and any definition of poor that includes such people is faulty.
>

I'd agree with "People who after a completely rational analysis of their
finances spend any time at a restaurant (and not skip on health care, rent,
college savings)  are not poor. "

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On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:07:23 -0500, Ross wrote:

> "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message
> news:475c3e4d@news.povray.org...
>> On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:24:07 -0800, Darren New wrote:
>>
>>> Incidentally, in the US, it's often cheaper to eat out at an
>>> inexpensive restaurant (like pizza of McD) than to buy fresh food to
>>> prepare at home. That's why poor people get fat here.
>>
>> I don't know about cheaper, but easier it certainly is.  Especially
>> with a bunch of kids that need to be fed.
> 
> Cheaper. Subsidized corn makes up the most used ingredient in everything
> on the menu at a place like McDonalds. From the filler in the meat (and
> what do they feed the meet factories? corn... they feed corn to an
> animal that is specialized to eat grassy greens. wtf), to the breading
> around the meat, the buns, french fries (what potatos?), beverage and
> salad dressing.

Well, let's see...

Stew beef, from CostCo:  $15 for 5 lbs. (1/4 lb = $0.75)

8 hamburger buns, about $2.50 ($0.31 per bun)

For 1/4 pound burgers, grind up the stew beef (pre-ground is more 
expensive by about $1 per pound IIRC), add a little bit of bread (we 
added 3 slices of bread chopped into fine bread crumbs - one loaf was 
about $1.35 IIRC and is maybe 15-20 slices - that handled 2.25 lbs of 
beef) - about $0.05 per burger.

So we're at $1.11 per burger, and it's fresh made instead of padded with 
corn.

One potato per serving of fries would be $0.20 (about $5 for 25 lbs, 
figure 1 lb per serving of fries).  A bit of oil to fry them in, peanut 
oil is good unless you have allergies to peanuts, otherwise sunflower oil 
works too).  Figure $4.00 for 4-5 uses (and each use is more than a 
single serving) - $0.15 per serving is probably a high estimate.

So the fries are about $0.35 per serving.

Drink will be the most expensive component if you want a brand name cola 
beverage.  I pay about $0.25 per 12 oz can in a case of 24.  So figure 
one of those...

Total cost:  $1.11 + $0.35 + $0.25 = $1.71 per meal.

IIRC, a quarter pounder with cheese meal costs around $4 around here.  
(It's been about 10 years since I ate at a McDonald's).

There are additional costs to making it yourself, of course - you've got 
to have equipment, for starters.  Time is also a factor to consider.

But I'll take the cheaper homemade burger any day over the trash served 
at McDonald's.

Jim

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> Time is also a factor to consider.

I think this is the key point, also laziness.  Why spend all the effort 
shopping and making stuff, when for a couple of $ more you can get it all 
done for you?  I suspect for most people the extra expense for a ready-made 
burger is less than what they could earn in the time it takes to buy 
ingredients and prepare.

Buying in bulk and doing it yourself is all very well, but unless you plan 
to eat burgers every night your ingredients are going to go bad pretty soon, 
then the cost benefit is wiped out.  Don't forget you have all the other 
stuff in the burger, like salad, sauces, cheese etc.

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