MAY 30, 13 .. SOMETIMES THE MOST UNUSUAL THINGS AFFECT ME ..
Those of you who have been following along here on a regular basis know that the YMCA in Kowloon at 41 Salisbury Road is one of my absolute favorite places in all of this world to stay.
And the below view from the pay phones on the 9th floor of the YMCA is one of my favorite views across Victoria Harbor at Hong Kong.
When any person/place/thing becomes very important to me .. I really associate myself with that person/place/thing and become concerned with its well-being. And so it is with the YMCA in Kowloon.
During my stay last May 13th to May 20th .. the YMCA ‘snack bar’ ran a promotion offering visitors their choice of several ‘gourmet burgers’. Accordingly .. in each of the elevators and at various places in the YMCA were posters advertising their ‘gourmet burger’ promotion. I say ‘burgers’ since they were offering a selection of various ‘burgers’ .. hamburgers .. veggie burgers .. fish burgers .. pork burgers .. etc.
Below are two photos of one of their ‘promotional posters’.
Below is a close-up photo of the hamburger shown on the left above.
WHAT IS SAD/UPSETTING? (Rhetorical Question)
OK get-with-me here. Because I care .. because the YMCA is MY PLACE .. I noted with interest this ‘gourmet burger promotion’. And the fact is this: some person .. some human-being .. maybe it was a committee .. conceived of this gourmet burger promotion. I will keep it in the ‘first person’. Some person decided .. “Let’s make a special burger promotion.” This person came up with menus .. ingredients .. designed the promotional posters .. in short .. some person PUT THEIR HEARTS into THEIR idea. Some person was proud of their idea and of all their work.
WHAT IS SAD/UPSETTING? (Rhetorical Question)
Do you all see the price of the hamburger above. The fancy double-decker hamburger with cheese and ‘fixings’. The price for the above hamburger is One Hundred and Twenty Hong Kong Dollars (120 HK$)! At a conversion rate of 7.76 HK$ per 1 US$ this translates to Fifteen U.S. Dollars and Forty Six Cents ($15.46 U.S.)!
WHAT IS SAD/UPSETTING? (My answer follows)
WHO IS GOING TO PURCHASE THIS ONE BURGER FOR 120 HK$ OR $15.46 U.S. WHEN THEY CAN WALK OVER TO ONE OF TWO MC DONALD’S A FEW STEPS AWAY AND PURCHASE A ‘BIG MAC’ OR A ‘QUARTER POUNDER’ OR A ‘MC CHICKEN’ .. each of which seem to be an equal to the gourmet burger at the YMCA .. but cost only Sixteen Hong Kong Dollars or Two U.S. Dollars and Six Cents or a McDonald’s ‘meal deal’ for Thirty Hong Kong Dollars or Three U.S. Dollars and Eighty Seven Cents.
IT JUST MADE ME FEEL SO SAD .. AND I STILL FEEL SAD SEVERAL WEEKS LATER .. BECAUSE THIS POOR SOUL IS SO FAR-OUT-OF-TOUCH WITH WHAT IS AVAILABLE OUT-ON-THE-STREET!
It seems possible to me that their loving and their caring idea just ‘crashed-in-flames’! And THAT makes me sad.
OH YES I KNOW!
Most people .. all of you maybe .. would simply say to themselves .. and I will let you all fill-in-the-blank .. “How (stupid/idiotic/silly/out-of-touch) is this promotion! Who on God’s-green-earth is going to buy their gourmet burgers at these prices!”
Had I been on a Committee I would have said something to the effect of .. “Let’s all go over to McDonald’s and see what they are selling and the prices.”
Well I said it in the title ..
SOMETIMES THE MOST UNUSUAL THINGS affect me.
And I remain sad about it .. several weeks later!
WITH LOVE to the creator of the gourmet-burger-promotion!
CAP ..
- MAY 25, 13 .. HONG KONG MISCELLANEOUS .. PART II ..
- JUN 5, 13 .. WITH A LITTLE ENCOURAGEMENT FROM PATTI .. MEMORABLE PHOTOS ..