Things are expensive

[Fog Dude]

Chips, bap and a can of Coke for £1.20 from the local 1-star hygiene Chinese place is what got me through my degree. I've checked that part of town more recently and it's long gone now, sadly.

Bought a Feast for over £3 at the zoo this past Tuesday. I realise a place like that can effectively hold you to ransom, but I'm sure when I was little even a top-of-the-range stick from the freezer like a Magnum would cost under a quid.

Ice creams at independent family restaurants on the sea front aren't any better nowadays (and the seagulls are more likely to come and snatch them straight out of your hands these days too).

[Cousin Jim Bob]

2 hours ago, Fog Dude said:

Ice creams at independent family restaurants on the sea front aren't any better nowadays (and the seagulls are more likely to come and snatch them straight out of your hands these days too).

 

I live on a seafront and work an extremely boring job (security), where I am often people watching at events on the front. The sheer dick headery I have seen from seagulls is mind blowing. Dive bombing is their favourite but I have seen loads off 'person sits down somewhere with a carton of chips, kebab, whatever. Seagull flies down when they turn their back and dumps the container on the floor, has one bite and decides its not for him and flies off'. Then the person turns round wondering what the fuck just happened.

The craziest attack I've seen was one rob a poor kid of his ice cone, he starts bawling so his dad bends down to console him. Another then nicks his dads ice cream whilst he is doing that, he is flustered and his cap fell off and another one attacks and flies of with it. It was like an organised heist.

 

 

 

[SuperBacon]

This was an interesting read.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/jun/21/the-seagulls-have-landed-why-gulls-are-encroaching-on-our-towns

Clearly bumgulls > seagulls.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

9 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

This was an interesting read.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/jun/21/the-seagulls-have-landed-why-gulls-are-encroaching-on-our-towns

Clearly bumgulls > seagulls.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if the ones in Blackpool weren't involved in organised crime.

[hallicks]

I saw one swoop in and nab a donut straight out of a boy’s hand at a theme park last year. Absolute precision strike, like a sniper. 

[Carbomb]

Seagulls are evil.

My sister was walking in the park a few months back, and saw one attack, murder, and eat a pigeon.

A few weeks later, a friend saw the same thing happen on the high street.

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Bastard things nearly had my thumb off last year when I was walking back through town towards Liverpool Comic Con eating a sausage roll

Years ago pre-COVID, a former colleague of mine was left needing multiple surgeries after a seagull pecked her eye for merely getting her phone out her bag

 

[Surf Digby]

I remember the first time I went to Morecambe, we all got chips from in front of the pier (which should tell you how long ago it was), and the instant one of the lads walked out of the chippy, a seagull dropped a massive, precisely targeted shit right onto his tray,

Right, from memory, prices of stuff from when I started spending my paper round money on it.

Cans of "premium" pop (Coke, 7-Up, Fanta, etc.) averaged around 30p. Some discount stores would have a limited selection at 25-28p
Panda Pops. 19p in Supadrug. I loved Panda Pops ginger beer. It was not too sweet, not too rough, and no matter how much you chilled the can, it always left your mouth feeling warm.
Mars 19p. Twix 18p. Was Snickers 19p as well? Or was that 20p. I didn't have them often back then, which might have been because 20p was in that 20+ bracket, and that was just too much.
Walkers crisps 17p. I seem to remember crisps staying around this price even after chocolate bars had gone up another 7-8p.

Petrol was 84p when I first started driving. That day when it went over £1 and the bottom counter climbed faster than the top one was pretty harsh. The first time it cost me more than £70 to fill the tank was pretty brutal too.
I'll vouch for CostCo being a bit of a relief. 

Vinyl. 
Back in the 90s, when only jazz nerds and old people bought records, I paid £8.99 for Angel Dust when it was first released. It's nice seeing vinyl back in HMV, but I just want some music, not to make an investment.

[Scratch]

I hardly ever eat at McDonald’s because it’s shit and as others have said, it’s no longer all that affordable anyway.

I had to pick my niece up from her dance class on Thursday and she wanted to get some food on the way home, so I made the exception knowing that I could at least get a triple cheeseburger which, to be fair, aren’t too bad. Although I couldn’t, as it turns out McDonald’s discontinued them a few days before.

Absolute bunch of clowns.

[MungoChutney]

I've definitely fallen in to the trap of going "That's quite reasonably priced" recently. When, in fact, it's not reasonably priced but seems like it is compared to the other madness. 

We hadn't had a Burger King in years but happened to be near one with a drive through. £50 for three meals was a tipping point for me. Ever since, I've been very conscious of whether something is actually decent value or or not. I've also reduced use of Just Eat given how much they take as a cut and try to ring for delivery or drive over if the place is close enough. Having to have cash for a lot of them is a pain but I've slowly started carrying more of it. 

[DCW]

Went to Burger King the other day for lunch cos I was pushed for time. Small chips, small onion rings and small coke was over a poxy tenner.

I know Irish consumers are treated like mugs by the multinationals anyway (Tesco bigwigs apparently refer to us as Treasure Island) but that is completely taking the piss for such a tiny amount of (shite quality!) fast food. Never again!

[Merzbow]

The tip for Burger King is to buy from the app, they *always* have an offer or three that make it a lot cheaper. It's just that they want your data.

[Gus Mears]

They're lucky that they still do the Bacon Double Cheeseburger XL because everything else about the experience is shit in terms of price and quantity. You get about 10 chips in a small packet.

[Lorne Malvo]

This may be entirely bollocks but I do think that, psychologically, part of the reason we keep swallowing these price hikes in supermarkets/fast food places etc is because everyone pays on card, and you just don't get the same visual of your money disappearing like you do with cash. It's so easy to just keep tapping away without really knowing how much everything is totting up to until you check your bank account later. I know personally that since I've massively cut down on my contactless payments and have started using cash a lot more again, I'm much more aware of how much money I've got, how much something costs and whether or not it's value for money. 

Apologies if that comes across as old gammon shouts at cloud but I do think there's something to it. 

[LCJ]

Probably a lot to do with the energy price hikes. Businesses spend more on energy to supply their goods and deliver their services. The cost is then passed on to the consumers who are already paying more for energy in their homes. It’s a vicious circle.