I can't believe they finally got to me

After three years, the Swiss have won. They turned me into someone I don't recognize. I didn't even see it coming. How could this have happened?

Today was a Swiss holiday. Tanner was working on a science project and had baseball practice, so Lindsey and I went to the Zurich Zoo. We were there for about four hours, looking at animals, walking around, and playing on the occasional playground. (Side note: This being Switzerland, I don't recall seeing even one scrap of litter on the ground.)

During the course of the afternoon, we got a little hungry and thirsty. We stopped at a food stand to split a bratwurst and a soda. The total for one brat and one soda was 10.70 in Swiss francs. With the U.S. dollar as weak as it is right now against the Swiss franc, that's about $12.60. I paid for the food without really thinking about it.

It was about an hour later, as I was noodling over the purchase in my mind, that it dawned on me that the soda had cost 4.20 in Swiss francs. That's about $4.80. I was suddenly struck by the absurdity of the fact that I'd paid almost five bucks for one lousy Coke. It wasn't the price that bothered me; what bothered me is that I paid that price without even hesitating. I'm not the guy who pays five bucks for a soda, or at least, I wasn't.

I think that this land of $8 gas, $25 contact lens solution, and $5000 monthly rent has finally made me immune to sticker shock. My company pays me a cost of living adjustment to make up for the higher cost of living here, and that amount increases as the dollar gets weaker, so the weak dollar and the higher expenses don't really hurt me personally. But still, I never thought I'd find myself happily forking over that kind of money for a stupid soda. What have I become?