We're Not In Kansas Anymore

So I was in New York City and I walked into this nondescript bagel place. With basic options for what to put on/in the bagel and standard choices for the bagels themselves.

I was in a bit of a hurry, so I quickly looked at the selections and requested egg salad on a cinnamon raisin bagel, toasted. Nothing fancy, no exotic demands.

A few minutes later the bagel arrived and I announced to the cashier I also was taking a bottle of water. That is when I discovered I was not in Kansas anymore.

"That comes to $18.50." For a moment I was sure he was mistaken. Then, for the first time, I bothered to look up to read the prices for each of the alternatives. It appeared that I had wandered into the land of make believe where my choice of main course came with a price tag of $15.25.

I hate to sound ancient but when did we leave earth and wander in to the part of the galaxy where egg salad is a rare delicacy? Maybe it was the two raisins in the bagel that put this purchase into an entirely different category? Were the eggs at least organic? Or maybe blessed by the Pope or at the very least an Orthodox Rabbi?

Normally I would only eat one of the bagel slices, open face, and discard the other at meal's conclusion. But for $15.25 nothing, not one morsel, was being left behind. No bagel was going to survive this experience.

I am planning on being in NYC again tomorrow during lunch. And while I will not be brown bagging it, I think I will be a little more circumspect, and a lot more cautious before deciding where to dine. So I don't end up with egg on my face again.