Quality girl, Perhaos we see ‘everything in moderation’ differently. To me, once a week takeaway doesn’t seem like moderation, but it clearly does to you.
That was my point really….that people’s idea of moderation has shifted. Once a week takeaway isn’t perceived as a luxury or pushing the boundaries, but entirely normal or almost one’s right after a full-on week. That’s so different to in the past, when it would have been considered a huge indulgence by most, especially if they weren’t well off.
Someone just mentioned they consider the half trolley load they could get for the £30 takeaway bill, and that focuses their mind. Perhaps that’s how people thought in the past. But people think differently now…they don’t seem to think like that, but then they will still suggest they are choosing between heat and food when the energy bills rise.
I suppose expectations have risen. People expect more now and see more things as essentials and not luxuries. A takeaway weekly isn’t considered a luxury, or an indulgence, hence all the ‘only once a week’ comments, instead of people saying ‘as often as once a week’. On one level, if course that’s a good thing if standards of living have risen, but have they really? Most people haven’t had real term pay rises since the financial crash and more and more people struggle to buy property and most people have insufficient put into their pensions. People arein debt and obesity is growing….although none of the frequent takeaway eaters on MN…obviously!
I’m not saying we should return to the times when hardly anyone ate out or had takeaway. I’m just interested in the cultural shifts going on and how they feed into some of the difficulties of the day.
And interesting to hear from a couple of posters who say their parents had regular takeaways when they were young, but they don’t now. I wonder if they are younger posters with younger parents, or again, if regular takeaway eating in the past was focused amongst certain groups. I don’t know.