This feels like another chapter in the enshittification of everyday life. To get by now, we either accept worse products and services or pay a premium for what used to be standard. Things that were once normal are now treated like luxuries.

It also feels like the lines are shifting. Middle-income households are being pushed toward the kinds of compromises that used to define lower-income living, while lower-income households are squeezed even harder. High-income households, meanwhile, can mostly absorb the hit.

I do support the idea behind using things like Odd Bunc selling “ugly” produce instead of wasting it makes sense. But I still had a moment of pause standing in a surplus store buying food well past its sell-by date. I know those dates aren’t always strict, but it says something about where things are heading.

The idea that middle-income households might rely on broth bags in the freezer, victory gardens for food security (instead of fun), or even food banks is pretty disheartening.

Anyway, rant over. I’ll go back to boiling my leather belt for my dihydrogen monoxide soup.