Just Hanging Out is Costly

Food court coffee: one size, one bean, nearly $10 for 3.

My wife's sister and her husband were on one of their regular visits to San Jose and wanted to hang out at the shopping center, like the kids and other old people do. Off we went to Valley Fair, a large, renovated, upscale (Burberry, Cartier, Prada, etc.) mall in the heart of Silicon Valley.

We passed up the sit-down restaurants, which could easily run over a hundred bucks for four and went to the Food Court.

The ramen cost over $15, more than a restaurant in relatively low-brow San Mateo. The others spent equivalent amounts on salads, teriyaki chicken, and poke bowls.

After a couple of hours, I bought three regular, not fancy coffees for under $10. With apologies to Gershwin, in Silicon Valley it's

Summertime,
Where the livin' is stressful,
The traffic is stopping
And the prices are high...