Poor David Brooks.
Imagine having to spend $78 for lunch at Newark International Airport and getting just a hamburger, french fries and a double-shot of whiskey.
Poor man.
Uh, Dave? How many double shots was that? Because the actual meal with a soft drink instead of the alcoholic beverage was only $17. Must have been a few, because someone smart enough to be a columnist for the New York Times and also publish non-fiction best sellers is certainly too smart to post on the website that once was called Twitter and use his lunch as an example of why the economy is so bad.
Another reason social media is so ridiculous. Otherwise intelligent and reasonable writers like Brooks post something on the spur of the moment and end up waist deep in the septic tank trying to walk it back.
Sadly, Brooks made it even worse with later comments. He called himself “upper middle class” — the kind of person who couldn’t quite afford $78 lunches — but I would be very surprised if his annual income is less than a quarter of a million dollars. His reported net wealth is between $5 million and $20 million.
That’s middle class — upper or otherwise –nowhere this side of Saudi Arabia.
As for people thinking the economy is terrible when it really isn’t, there are two reasons for that. First is the ridiculous growth of wealth among the very rich, driving prices of things like homes, cars and luxury goods through the ceiling. Second is the way the media keeps hammering away at how bad the economy is.
Thanks, Dave.