Grrl Power Thread #2: The Most Common Super Power

[AvatarVecna]

I'm pretty sure there is a catch. 40 Dollar for a meal seems a bit extreme. The real question is why the others don't tell Sydney what's up. It can't be that secret.

It's so this plot point can be dragged out beyond just the single comic panel it would usually take up.

Nah, there's probably a better reason for it than that. Surely...

[Traab]

Huh. You Americans must have it cheap. Switzerland: 10-15 bucks for cheap/bad fast food (McDonalds, etc.), 20 bucks for a cheap self-service restaurant, 40 bucks for something reasonable, 60-80 for a quality restaurant. Open upwards, of course, my parents have told me of 300 CHF meals they had for their anniversaries and so on.

That's in CHF, which I think are still more valuable than dollars.

I went to wendys last night for dinner for me and my niece. Bought a baconator combo meal large sized, then had a spicy chicken sandwich combo plus they had some new bacon cheese fries I wanted to try. Total hit 20 bucks for two meals. But that was an expensive setup for wendys too be honest. If I had gone to taco bell I could have gotten two cheesy potato burritos for roughly 5 bucks then bought a soda costing me maybe 6.50. 40 bucks could be my lunch budget for the week if I feel like stretching it out a bit, or at least enough to cover 4 days or so if not. So yeah, this had better be a special meal, like, its full of vaccines and grants higher resistance to all sorts of things so long as you eat there regularly.

[AvatarVecna]

I went to wendys last night for dinner for me and my niece. Bought a baconator combo meal large sized, then had a spicy chicken sandwich combo plus they had some new bacon cheese fries I wanted to try. Total hit 20 bucks for two meals. But that was an expensive setup for wendys too be honest. If I had gone to taco bell I could have gotten two cheesy potato burritos for roughly 5 bucks then bought a soda costing me maybe 6.50. 40 bucks could be my lunch budget for the week if I feel like stretching it out a bit, or at least enough to cover 4 days or so if not. So yeah, this had better be a special meal, like, its full of vaccines and grants higher resistance to all sorts of things so long as you eat there regularly.

While Wendy's and Taco Bell are hardly as expensive as it gets, $40 is still a lot for lunch.

[Calemyr]

First, was that lunch on campus or off? I'm not entirely sure, though I'm leaning towards on-campus.

If it was off-campus, I have to wonder if it's a surcharge for supers. Kind of a limited insurance thing, to make the reward worth the risk. That gets into segregation and prejudice, however, and that's not a cool road to look down.

[Forum Explorer]

I put this on the comic comment board but I will put it here too. I dont think it should matter

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how much she gets paid. 40 bucks for a meal is price gouging. I wouldnt pay that much for a prime rib steak and lobster dinner, let alone some decent grub for lunch. So even though yeah, I bet they get paid big bucks, considering they are highly unique specialists working hazardous duty for the military/government, unless the chef is also a super who can cram enough calories and nutritional content to feed a super all day on a single meal, they are getting hosed. I dont care if they get paid so much they make football stars seem below the poverty line, unless the meal itself is special in some way, its not worth 40 bucks.

40 is a lot for a single person meal, but not out of the question to hit. I've been to places where the meals started at around 20$ and went up from there. And they weren't that fancy. A really gourmet restaurant? 40$ easy.

[Admiral Squish]

I don't think I've ever eaten a single meal that cost more than $30 in my entire life. $40 for a lunch is ludicrous. That's five hours' work at minimum wage. And they didn't seem to go to a fancy ultra-gourmet restaurant, the earlier food scene looks like the gang was just eating at some cafeteria-esque place. Sydney had antipasto and fettucini alfredo, and Achilles was putting potato chips on a cheeseburger. I can't even imagine what a $40 cheeseburger would look like (actually, I can, but the mental image is either some sort of hand-formed artisan kobe beef patty topped with an unpronounceable cheese, or a ridiculous five-pound bacon-wrapped heart attack on a deep-fried bun)

[Discus-Spinner]

Well, I managed to spend the equivalent of $250 on lunch for two the other week, but that was at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and included wine. (Anniversary. Totally worth it.) I wouldn't make a habit of it, but sometimes, it's worth exploring the outer limits of human technical skill.

Anyhow, it looks like Harem fully intends to explain the reason to Sydney, but she wants to check some facts first. I'd assume that (a) Sydney didn't think to check the remuneration column in her contract of employment, and she's about to get a pleasant surprise, and (b) those canteen meals are created and monitored by the culinary and dietary-sciences equivalent of Tony Stark and Reed Richards.

(His name would be Heston Blumenthal, of course.)

[Avilan the Grey]

$40 is a plausible price for lunch at a Really fancy place.

Coincidentally I have never found a lunch actually worth $40. It seems somewhere over $20, the food stops improving and you just get less on your plate.

[Qwertystop]

Honestly, I've been getting really good hot sandwiches for $8-$9 for the last month or so since I got this summer job. That's not exactly the most expensive sort of lunch, of course, but... I don't even know what I'd be getting to spend $40 on it. Maybe if you're a big eater and skipped breakfast?

[Discus-Spinner]

Coincidentally I have never found a lunch actually worth $40. It seems somewhere over $20, the food stops improving and you just get less on your plate.

You need to try a few more actually good restaurants.

I don't even know what I'd be getting to spend $40 on it. Maybe if you're a big eater and skipped breakfast?

High-quality ingredients freshly prepared by a really skilled chef.

[Traab]

The last time I ate a meal that cost 40 bucks per person was at this fancy steakhouse. I have to admit, the prime rib was insanely tender and perfectly cooked, but I would honestly prefer to buy and cook several of my own steaks at home instead. Plus steakhouses never season my steak enough. Look, I like linen napkins as much as the next guy, but not enough to be willing to pay twice as much for a steak thats almost as good elsewhere.

[Eldan]

I've never Seen a steak for under 30-40 dollars.

[Traab]

I've never Seen a steak for under 30-40 dollars.

You are eating at some crazy overpriced places then.

[Admiral Squish]

I've never Seen a steak for under 30-40 dollars.

I can walk half a mile from my house and get two (admittedly small) steaks and a basket o' fried mozzarella cheese sticks for $20. There are another dozen places within 5 miles I could get similar prices from. I have no idea where you're getting your steaks from.

[AvatarVecna]

I can walk half a mile from my house and get two (admittedly small) steaks and a basket o' fried mozzarella cheese sticks for $20. There are another dozen places within 5 miles I could get similar prices from. I have no idea where you're getting your steaks from.

Once again, seconded.

[Douglas]

I have since moved far away and haven't looked for a local equivalent, but I used to live near a restaurant where $40 would get you not just "a steak", but all-you-can-eat steak in a wide high quality variety, carved fresh at the table by the server who had just then brought it from the kitchen.

[AvatarVecna]

I have since moved far away and haven't looked for a local equivalent, but I used to live near a restaurant where $40 would get you not just "a steak", but all-you-can-eat steak in a wide high quality variety, carved fresh at the table by the server who had just then brought it from the kitchen.

There's a place like that near me, although it's $50-60 where I am. That place was wonderful, but far too expensive to go to all but rarely.

[Forum Explorer]

I can walk half a mile from my house and get two (admittedly small) steaks and a basket o' fried mozzarella cheese sticks for $20. There are another dozen places within 5 miles I could get similar prices from. I have no idea where you're getting your steaks from.

Different countries. I don't know if you are in the US, but assuming you are, well, restaurants are just more expensive in general then the US. Or maybe that's just Europe. Though I know food and booze are both more expensive in Canada then in the US.

[AvatarVecna]

That's...a lot of money. Like, assuming she's serious about the numbers (and assuming she was making at least minimum wage before)...well, $40 is a lot for a lunch steak, but when you're a millionaire, it's less noticeable.

EDIT: She won't make any records, but if I had a check for two weeks bigger than my previous year of checks, I'd certainly be more willing to spend money on good food.

EDIT 2: And that author's note...are we sure Maxima isn't made of solid gold, and she's just been yanking everybody's chain the whole time? I'm joking.

[Traab]

I still say that even if she is making millions a year now, charging someone 40 bucks for lunch is gouging unless there is something special about it. She ate some freaking pasta dishes. PASTA! The components of fettuccine alfredo probably ran 5 bucks for her portion of it. So unless that was cheeses extracted from the milk of a peruvian super cow and pasta formed under the moonlight by vestal virgins using a gem encrusted pastamaker, I just cant see them justifying that kind of cost other than "Well, we need to make the millions we pay them back somehow!"

[AvatarVecna]

I just cant see them justifying that kind of cost other than "Well, we need to make the millions we pay them back somehow!"

This is the government we're talking about here. It wouldn't surprise me...

[HandofShadows]

Good pay is a good incentive to keep talented people working for you. And the number of people with Sydney's "talents" is very rare.

[Calemyr]

I should point out that she may not even be taking home minimum wage. Sydney is part owner of small, failing comic shop. It may well be that she and her partner are taking hits to their paycheck just to keep the place afloat. If the choice is between an expensive dinner and keeping the lights on another day in the shop, it might sound like a good night for some ramen.

[AvatarVecna]

I should point out that she may not even be taking home minimum wage. Sydney was part owner of small, failing comic shop. It may well be that she and her partner are taking hits to their paycheck just to keep the place afloat. If the choice is between an expensive dinner and keeping the lights on another day in the shop, it might sound like a good night for some ramen.

FTFY. Otherwise, you make an excellent point; we're not necessarily talking millionaire Sydney, although she's still likely making a lot.

[Kantaki]

Ah, yes. That explains the expensive lunch. They want to get some of the money back they throw at the supers to get them to work for them. I think that supers are paid very well was established on a earlier page, but now Sydney and the readers learn what "well paid" actually means.

[Calemyr]

FTFY. Otherwise, you make an excellent point; we're not necessarily talking millionaire Sydney, although she's still likely making a lot.

Why "was"? She's not going to drop her part ownership and she's not going to throw Joel out in cold. She won't be in the shop nearly as often, I'm sure, but that shop is clearly a passion of hers - and one that endures her microsecond attention span. That's not going to change. Instead of bringing her hyperactive face to work each day, however, she'll be supplying the shop with star power and the ability to invest more funds into it. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if later on down the line we find that Joel misses having his little spaz hanging around all day.

[Kantaki]

Why "was"? She's not going to drop her part ownership and she's not going to throw Joel out in cold. She won't be in the shop nearly as often, I'm sure, but that shop is clearly a passion of hers - and one that endures her microsecond attention span. That's not going to change. Instead of bringing her hyperactive face to work each day, however, she'll be supplying the shop with star power and the ability to invest more funds into it. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if later on down the line we find that Joel misses having his little spaz hanging around all day.

It is likely the shop isn't failing anymore, considering that the fact that it is co-owned by a real superhero should draw a lot of attention and new customers. Then there is the deal Syd and Arianna made regarding the shop. If it is more than "Syd gets a few hours each day to work in her store it might be another source of income.

[Eldan]

I can walk half a mile from my house and get two (admittedly small) steaks and a basket o' fried mozzarella cheese sticks for $20. There are another dozen places within 5 miles I could get similar prices from. I have no idea where you're getting your steaks from.

Switzerland. At this point, we're just used to the fact that everything here costs up to twice as much as even just 50k away across the border, especially if there's service by actual people involved.

Also, yeah. What is minimal wage in the US, just to ask? I think it's 2000 dollars-ish around here for unskilled jobs, (though there's no formal minimal wage laws in a lot of industries), though that is seriously poor. 24 times that would be a seriously high wage, even around here.

[AvatarVecna]

Why "was"? She's not going to drop her part ownership and she's not going to throw Joel out in cold. She won't be in the shop nearly as often, I'm sure, but that shop is clearly a passion of hers - and one that endures her microsecond attention span. That's not going to change. Instead of bringing her hyperactive face to work each day, however, she'll be supplying the shop with star power and the ability to invest more funds into it. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if later on down the line we find that Joel misses having his little spaz hanging around all day.

It is likely the shop isn't failing anymore, considering that the fact that it is co-owned by a real superhero should draw a lot of attention and new customers. Then there is the deal Syd and Arianna made regarding the shop. If it is more than "Syd gets a few hours each day to work in her store it might be another source of income.

Yeah, this is what I meant: it was failing, and now it definitely won't be.

[BannedInSchool]

Yeah, this is what I meant: it was failing, and now it definitely won't be.

Maybe if Sydney still holds the rights to her own image to sell on t-shirts.