What’s it worth?
August 13, 2009 (Thursday)
The word, “hospital,” comes from a word used in the middle ages. The word for “hotel” is rooted in the same old word. Those of you who have had anything to do with hospitals and hotels know very well that they are not alike. Aside from being assigned a room, there is no similarity between being admitted to the hospital and registering at a hotel.
Aside from the differences that are obvious, there is the price. Hotels are trying their best to catch up to the hospitals with their charges, but they are still short by thousands of dollars per day. Paying for a coffee maker in the room is still cheaper than an M.R.I. We don’t have insurance to pay for hotel rooms, but many people do have company credit cards. If you have to foot the bill yourself and you haven’t been in a hotel in recent years, the sticker shock will be awful. I saw an ad the other day from a hotel which was offering a bargain basement price that was still many times what was charged in the past.
When Motel 6 first came on the scene, they actually charged $6 for a room. When the seven of us in my family went to Fresno, California, in 1970, we stayed in a new Motel 6 and found the rooms so cheap that we got two instead of one. No more.
I suppose the cost of everything has gone up with inflation, but the profit margin has not always followed the same pattern as the overhead. Take for instance, a $20 bill in 1970. In order to buy the same stuff or services we bought for it in 1970, we have to pay $109.72 today. If you like such figures, try out your own numbers at http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
If you find $20 you socked away in a coffee can in 1970, you will discover that its value has dwindled to $3.57. Sometimes I think the economy is all in our minds and is a little game we play. Then I remember what it’s like to be very poor and it’s no game.