Let Them Eat Cake (But Let's Indulge in Some Price Gouging First)

I won't say the C-word, was my mantra before logging into my blog. The dreaded C-word used to be a derogatory term for female pudenda, and now it's a term for that frigging germ that 's got everyone NUTSO. Grocery shopping used to be a mere inconvenience, and now it's a total ORDEAL. Not helping the aggravation is this incorrigibly stupid tweet I read today from some gronk of the highest order called Matthew Lesh. I am aware it isn't nice to name people, but he has tweeted from a public profile, so I will call him out on his buffoonery. I am having trouble copying the tweet, so here's the text, which relates to the increase in prices of sought-after supermarket items:

There is nothing wrong with retailers increasing prices. It ensures products can be bought by those who value them the most and helps prevent shortages.

This total fuckwhackery was followed up by this comment from Lesh:

If you really want to buy a product would you prefer to pay a little more or not be able to access it?

Seriously, what ails this guy? People are trying to buy FOOD! Is he saying only those with money deserve sustenance and nourishment, and the opportunity to provide for their families? Is this the modern day equivalent of 'Let them eat cake'? Oh, I'm aware Marie Antoinette didn't actually say;  'Let them eat cake'; this is just a metaphor and writers occasionally use them.

This bloke is head of research of some think tank in England. I might be naïve, but I was of the understanding that think tanks, by virtue of their titles, were supposed to THINK!

His pinned tweet states: A big announcement: I have written a book. 

Mate, so freaking WHAT? I have written FOUR books, and never in my life have I implied it's acceptable for supermarkets to increase costs because people value their food. People do value food; it's what helps them LIVE, you insufferable imbecile! Yes, I do like 'nice' foods, and admit to being a bit of a gourmand, but please show me whereabouts this is mentioned in the NSW Criminal Code. People who are struggling actually want to feed their families, and it shouldn't matter whether it's gravy beef or foie gras: they're entitled to frigging well eat, okay? God, what an annoying idiot you are. Heaven help you if you topple from your high horse, so just tuck and roll, okay?

Why don't I finish this post with a kind of feel-good anecdote? Well, it's feel-good for me, and it is in the neighbourhood of being a type of brag. All I ask is you indulge me. I played trivia the other night. I play alone. I used to be a gun for hire, but right now I'm happy on my own. I didn't get to win the right to play for jackpot money, but everyone is allowed to answer the jackpot question for two points on their score. I was the only person in the game who knew who was the reigning monarch at the time of the Guy Fawkes gunpowder plot. Now, I don't actually know this answer straight away off the top of my head. I sat and did some thinking, and remembered there is a line of thought among scholars that the porter scene in MacBeth is an allusion to the gunpowder plot. This is feasible, because writers often drawn on what's happening in the news when they're writing. The quizmaster asked who was the KING when Guy Fawkes did all his plotting, and whilst it is common knowledge that Shakespeare was writing during the Elizabethan era (and Elizabeth I was not a king), what people don't mention too often is that he also wrote during the Jacobean era, which is the reign of King James I. Applying that logic, I wrote 'King James I', and got the answer right! I was the only person in the room who got it right! This is an obnoxious boast on my part, but in these trying times, it is one I will allow for the sake of self-care.

By the way, all my books might be available on Kindle Direct soon, so watch this space...