I walked into 99 Ranch Market today to buy seafood.
That sentence already sounds slightly irresponsible when you remember that I was laid off on September 3, 2026—and that millions of other people are also being laid off, cutting expenses and wondering how long their savings will last.
Some families are discovering exciting new recipes involving bread, water and whatever remains at the back of the pantry.
Meanwhile, the seafood department at 99 Ranch looks like an underwater luxury-car dealership.
The $47 shrimp
The first attraction was live spot prawn, advertised as a Manager’s Special for $46.99 per pound, reduced from $49.99.
Apparently, saving three dollars makes it affordable.
These are not ordinary frozen shrimp hiding inside a plastic bag. They are alive, bright orange and moving behind the glass, waiting for someone whose grocery budget has not yet met reality.
At nearly $47 per pound, a few prawns can cost as much as several complete meals for a family trying to survive unemployment. But this is the Taste of Money: the pleasure is not simply eating seafood. The pleasure is knowing that your dinner was still swimming while somebody else was deciding whether to buy eggs.
The economical luxury
A few steps away, I found the more “economical” option. Live country shrimp were on special for $31.99 per pound, marked down from $39.99.
Now we are saving real money.
For only $32 a pound, you can enjoy the comforting feeling that you are being financially responsible. Never mind that bread costs a few dollars and water comes from the faucet. This is live shrimp. It has traveled farther than many people will travel on their next vacation.
The shrimp climbed over one another inside the tank like unemployed applicants competing for the same remote job.
A bargain lobster
Then I reached the lobsters. The sign said $10.99 per pound, reduced from $24.99. Compared with the prawns, this almost looked cheap.
That is how luxury plays with your mind. First, show someone shrimp for $47 a pound. Then show them live lobster for $10.99, and suddenly the lobster feels like a sensible household purchase.
The lobsters sat behind the glass with their claws tied shut in colorful bands. They looked powerful, expensive and completely unable to change their situation.
A little like the modern middle class.
You can work for decades, build a career, pay your mortgage, raise your children and do everything society tells you to do. Then one meeting appears on your calendar and, before lunch, your salary is gone.
The lobster understands.
Wealth does not need to be beautiful
Finally, I saw the live turbot at $34.99 per pound. These strange, flat fish rested on top of one another at the bottom of the tank, almost disappearing into their surroundings.
They were not glamorous in the traditional sense. But at that price, they did not need to be beautiful. Wealth has never required beauty. It only requires that most other people cannot afford it.
Outside the seafood department, people are worried about layoffs, rent, health insurance, groceries and the next mortgage payment. Inside, live prawns sell for nearly $50 a pound.
Two economies are swimming beside each other.
In one economy, people compare seafood by freshness, origin and flavor. In the other, people compare bread prices and hope the water bill does not increase.
I stood there looking through the glass, unemployed, surrounded by lobsters, shrimp, prawns and turbot. For a few minutes, I could shop like a rich man—even if all I really bought was a good look at dinner.
That may be the most affordable luxury left in America.
Looking is still free.
