Ripe for the Plucking

During lunch today I was enjoying the remainder of an excellent chicken poblano burrito and musing about financial vagaries. (I wonder if chicken poblano burrito and vagaries have ever before appeared in the same sentence.) This delightful dish cost me $8.65 as take-out last night from the local Mexican restaurant. The chicken was a tender, thick breast slice and the dish blended the hint of heat from a poblano pepper with cool, creamy cheese. All that taste for less than $9. Up the road away, a restaurant sells a pistachio encrusted chicken wrap that is also delicious but at a higher price. Another place has a coconut encrusted chicken dish that's probably twice as much. Hence my musing. If the chicken's just as good on one side of the road, why is it so much more expensive on the other side?

As if musing and eating weren't enough, I multi-tasked by web-surfing during lunch. I chanced upon yet another article about yet another industry adversely affected by the economy. Apparently, prostitutes and mistresses are feeling the recession. Wealthy men are finding it too expensive to cheat in the old ways. Hookers charge too much per hour. Mistresses or "high end girlfriends" as the article called them, come with a bunch of expenses like big ticket gifts, apartments and the occasional luxury weekend getaway.

Who knew that the economy could impact adultery? Apparently, this presents a real dilemma because financial woes are the number one cause of problems in a marriage and can lead to infidelity. What's a stressed out spouse to do?

According to this article, those who are compelled to have an affair are finding it easier and less costly to hook up with a honey who is also married. So, you don't need to finance an apartment (occasional hotel rooms are cheaper than rent), purchase expensive gifts that might be questioned by the partner's spouse, and, for a real bonus, there's less risk that the person you're sleeping with will rat you out or black mail you since he/she is also cheating and has just as much to lose.

Nature abhors a vaccum, so of course there are businesses cropping up to facilitate the affairs. Yes, there are website services where you can troll for a married person who also wants to cheat. I haven't googled them but one can only imagine the possible names. Affairtoremember dot com? Snatch dot com?