On Mon, 14 Oct 2013 06:23:31 -0400, "dadiOH"
wrote:



Of course, that is "at home"expenditure, not total.

When I was a kid, eating out was maybe a once or twice a year thing and
there was no such thing as "fast food". Now, restaurants of all kinds have
proliferated and people eat out frequently; they patronize fast food places
even more frequently.

A few weeks back, my wife had a late doctor's appointment so we
stopped at a restaurant on the way home. This was a local chain, the
99, similar to Applebees and the like. It was a little after 5, just
enough time for parents to leave work and grab the kids from a sitter.
I was amazed at how many families were there. Like you, eating out
was a rare treat when we were kids. It was a big deal to go shopping
with mom and have lunch at the counter in Woolworths.