How Much?!!

I was out Christmas shopping this afternoon, you know, poking around, seeing what's what and getting the lay of the land. No, I had absolutely no idea what I was looking for or where to even start looking, but I was out there, mixing it up with everybody else. I got a little hungry, and since I was in the holiday spirit, I decided to stop in at Baskin Robbins, where I have not been in years, literally. I got a single scoop of Quarterback Crunch on a pointy sugar cone, just like old times. I nearly had a heart attack when the guy told me it would be $2.50. But I had a hankerin' and forked over the cash anyway. Grudgingly.
   Am I so out of touch that $2.50 for a freakin' ice cream cone sounds like highway robbery to me?
   I mean, really... come on. I know you have to pay rent and pay your staff and carry insurance and whatever other crazy-ass add-ons California burdens small businesses with, but seriously... $2.50 for a single scoop sugar cone? I remember when it was like 50 cents, back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and cavemen had just invented fire and the ice cream freezer.
   Maybe it's more of my pending old-man-ness showing, the cranky codger coming out in me, but Baskin Robbins must be doing pretty well if they think they can get away with charging that much for a few ounces of mediocre ice cream. They sure aren't going to get my return business, I know that much.
   I'm almost afraid to go places I haven't been in a long time, because I have a feeling they'll all end up astonishingly overpriced and ruin my cherished memories. Like Stuckey's, do they even have those any more? With the pecan logs that used to be 25 cents? What's Dairy Queen charging for a Dilley Bar these days, ten bucks? Jeez, I feel like my grandfather, reminiscing about places gone for decades.
   Is it 4:30 yet? I'm hungry for dinner.