Many of you may have read this on social media and viewed the Fox News report comparing prices for the 8-year-old Kevin McCallister’s famous grocery haul in the Christmas movie “Home Alone.”

The cost of the merchandise is almost 250% more expensive today than in the 1990 holiday classic film.

McCallister spent $19.83 on food and household items as he gave the cashier a $20 bill to pay for his purchases. Those items included a half gallon of milk, a half gallon of orange juice, a TV dinner, bread, frozen mac and cheese, laundry detergent, cling wrap, toilet paper, a pack of army men and dryer sheets.

In 2022, the same grocery items cost $44.40, Fox News reported. In 2023, the cost of these items added up to $72.28.

That is just terrible when you think about it.

I’m sure most of you who are middle-aged remember when things cost a lot less. I can recall in high school when $5 would buy me a tank of gas for the family’s car. Now, you are lucky to get a gallon and a half for that amount.

I remember when a bottle of pop was only a dime and a candy bar cost a nickel. You could get a hot dog for 25 cents. I know it is hard for the younger generation to believe.

Of course grocery prices were much lower in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, we had no idea how things would increase.

Economy experts say that food price inflation across decades is normal, averaging about 2% each year, a report said. However, from 2021 to 2022, retail food prices in the U.S. rose 11%, the largest annual increase in over 40 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Some blame the COVID pandemic on this, but now that it is over, many of us ask: Why are the prices not going back down?

Locally, many of us ask: Why are gas prices in the Williamson area usually 40 cents more per gallon than in Kermit, Warfield or Pikeville, all just a few miles away?

I won’t get into politics. My dad always said, “Don’t talk politics or religion because it usually ends up in an argument.” But it seems like the last three or four years things have been much worse.

While food price increases have slowed a bit, the inflation has continued. The percentage keeps going up more than the average in the past. The same goes for gasoline. The price has dropped a bit, but it is still much more per gallon than four years ago.

It is tough for many low and middle-income families to make ends meet, especially during the holiday season.

I guess we should end with a little inflation humor. I found these jokes on the internet.

• The other day, I called to get the Blue Book value of my car. They asked if the gas tank was full or empty.

• Gas prices are so high that even COVID has stopped traveling.

• It now costs $3 to pump air into your tires. That’s the cost of inflation!

• “Due to economic cutbacks, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.” -Author Unknown.

• “Too bad that all the people who really know how to run the country are busy driving taxi cabs and cutting hair.” -George Burns.

So rather than crying over skyrocketing prices, let’s just laugh a bit. There is not much use in worrying about the economy. It is what it is. We can hope, pray and vote for those who we feel can make things better in the future.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)