By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
Today, we are paying $3.25 per gallon for regular gasoline where I live but folks on the West Coast are paying more than $6 per gallon. That is price gouging.
Most Americans expect to be gouged on ticket prices for highly popular entertainment and athletic events. Some tickets at this year’s Super Bowl went for $20,000, but the stadium was not at capacity.
Years ago, I paid a whopping $50 for a front row seat at a country music show but the girl was not that impressed. Realizing I had been gouged on the price only added to my disappointment.
I went to a military reunion in New Orleans and paid $350 for dinner for five people but I endured it because it was a restaurant in the French Quarter operated by Emeril Lagasse, my wife’s favorite TV chef at the time. It was clearly a gouge, even with Emeril’s autograph on each dish.
Sadly, property owners in areas hit by natural disasters often get gouged on building materials they need to repair their homes and businesses. Most states have laws prohibiting price gouging, but it often is hard to prove.
I read online that some company had been nailed for gouging because they were charging storage fees to customers who bought goods that had been delayed for months in container ships. That clearly was a case of price gouging.
Frankly, I’m suspicious of price increases that seem to happen each time a government official complains about inflation rates. Could that be a secret signal that it is OK to bump up retail prices?
As a high schooler, I worked as a car hop at a small-town drive-in restaurant. The owner used printed menus without a price listed for each item.
Curious, I asked why the new menus had those blank spaces instead of prices. He looked around to see who might be listening and then whispered to me that he liked the option of raising prices whenever he wanted. He had to be the first price gouger I ever met.
But today’s price gouging experience was the worst of all. The price of a large cola drink at a national restaurant chain suddenly jumped from $1.09 to $1.53, an inflationary increase of 40 percent.
To make matters worse, I got it with extra ice.
Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com.
