Month: February 2024

Ten percent of the land area on Earth is covered with glacial ice, which includes ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, ice caps and glaciers. Unfortunately, 750 billion tons of Earth’s ice is melting yearly due to climate change.

If climate change isn’t stopped, this will lead to disastrous consequences for the entire planet.

“As a result of this, ice around the world is melting and raising the planet’s sea level. The oceans already rose 6 centimeters during the course of the 19th century. But they rose by 19 centimeters during the 20th century, over 3 times faster than they rose in the previous century,” says a video produced by Real Life Lore. “NOAA estimates that global sea level could rise by up to 2.5 meters by the year 2100. Which would have devastating consequences.”

Real Life Lore has over 7 million subscribers to its videos covering geography and world populations.

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The video speculates that if all the ice on Earth melted, it would raise the global sea level by an incredible 68.3 meters (224 feet).

This would have a disastrous impact on the United States.

How Will Earth Change If All the Ice Melts?

“In North America, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and most of San Diego and Los Angeles would be underwater. San Francisco would be an island and San Jose would be destroyed by the waves,” the video says.

There would be catastrophic damage to the East Coast as well. The ocean would expand to swallow the entire states of Florida and Delaware, almost all of Long Island, and the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Boston.

This video depicts a rather grim future, but the positive side of the story is that it can be avoided. Each of us has the responsibility to take whatever measures we can to revert the effects of climate change and to push for policies that stop the creation of greenhouse gasses.

Some stories are wholesome. Others are hilarious. Others still restore some faith in humanity. This one is a combination of all three.

A teacher shared on Reddit how he took his student’s torn coat home so that his crafty daughter could mend the pocket. As he explained in his post, the student didn’t seem to have the funds to fix it on his own or replace the jacket.

His daughter didn’t only sew up the jacket, but left her own cheeky bit of “11th grade advice” in note hidden in the coat’s pocket.

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“Hey child, it is me, the magical coat fixer. Hope it holds up and please send it back if it doesn’t. Sorry I couldn’t make it as invisible as I hoped, but I did my best,” the note read. “Also since you’re in 8th grade (I think — I’m not 100% sure what grade my dad teaches) I thought you could use some 11th grade advice.

The note then concluded with “MIDDLE SCHOOL SUCKS. YOU’RE ALMOST FREE. YOU CAN MAKE IT. GOOD LUCK,” written in all caps.

I asked one of my students who is very poor to give me his torn coat so I could bring it home for my daughter to sew. He came to class and showed me that he found this in the pocket.
byu/thedeadwillwalk inMadeMeSmile

The teacher shared in the comments that even though his student was “embarrassed at first,” he kept pulling out the note and smiling through class.

The teacher shared in the comments that even though his student was “embarrassed at first,” he kept pulling out the note and smiling through class.

Folks who read the story commended the daughter for not only helping the younger student through an act of service, but also with some encouraging words.

“Such a small act of kindness will probably be something this child carries with him for the rest of his life,” one person wrote.

“Your daughter has a HUGE heart. What a gift. ❤️” added another.

Another noted how this story hits on multiple emotional levels, writing:

“There are so many wonderful things about this. You thought to help out a kid in your class who didn’t have the resources to help themselves/They weren’t afraid of too proud to accept help when they need it/You know your child’s skills well enough to know they could help/Not only did your kid go out of their way to help, they thought it might be nice to include a note, a word of wisdom, and a promise to keep helping in the future if needed/The kiddo who needed help recognized how special this note was and thought to share it with you/And now you share it with your internet friends!”

In an interview with TODAY.com, the teacher (who remained anonymous) shared that this kind of behavior was typical of Brianna—his daughter. And apparently, her creativity was contagious, as the little boy gave her his own handmade thank-you card.

Yep, something the biggest acts of generosity are small enough to find in a coat pocket.

There’s always advice out there for parents that promise to be the game changer everyone’s been looking for but since every child is different, the claim rarely rings true. But this piece of advice might just do the thing it claims because it’s such a simple shift and allows for both parent and child to feel validated in tough situations.

Anjuli Paschall recently posted a video sharing a phrase her mom used with her as a child that changed her life. She shares that over Christmas break she was washing the family’s antique china, five of the fragile dishes fell to the floor and shattered. At the sound of the noise, Paschall’s mom screamed from the other room, “I love you more than those dishes.”

A simple reassuring phrase that Paschall has heard all of her life reassuring her that mistakes happen but her mom will always love her more.

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But her mom didn’t just use it when mishaps occurred, she used it even when accomplishments were achieved. The purpose was to continually remind Paschall that nothing she could do or achieve would diminish her mother’s love. Children can absorb so much and internalize things that may come out in perfectionist tenancies, so the phrase “I love you more than…” is meant to build confidence and self forgiveness. Commenters tell Paschall how helpful that phrase is and how their plans to use it.

“Decorating birthday sugar cookies with my 7 year old today and the platter we loaded them on dropped and broke as she carried it… my immediate reaction, ‘It’s fine… I love you so much more than that platter and cookies… we’ll make more.’
Your post was so timely, friend. Thank you,” one mom writes.

“As someone whose expertise is mind and nervous system development and how this influences adult life, this is so powerful. When they feel this as kids they don’t NEED to hear it from the world, because it is encoded within them as embodied truth already,” someone else shares.

“You know what’s the best part? This sentence is very real, logical, and gives even the parent themselves a reality check that they may need in a moment when they’re angry. Yes, I love those dishes. But do I love them more than I love my child? Hell no. So yeah, better tell them in that moment when they are in a doubt,” another says.

While this little phrase may not be for everyone, it is certainly one that a lot of commenters are wishing they heard as children. Watch the entire video below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anjuli Paschall (@lovealways.anjuli)

Job hunting literally can feel like you’re out in the Sahara scavenging for your next meal…all the while knowing that there are dozens of other hunters just as starving as you are, and that there doesn’t seem to be enough morsels to go around. It all makes one anxiety-laden psychic landmine, forgive the mix of metaphors.

Even after you’ve used all the tips and tricks to make your resume stand out in a sea of other applications, using every viable SEO keyword you can scrounge up, and you do finally get the coveted interview, the stress is far from over. Certain questions feel more like traps than anything else.

But just like everything in life, a little prep, along with some expert advice, goes a long way.

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But just like everything in life, a little prep, along with some expert advice, goes a long way.

Erin McGoff, aka “your internet big sister,” has all kinds of strategies for building a fulfilling career, not least of which being acing interviews.

In her mind, salary expectations are one of the “trickiest” parts of the interview to navigate.

While it might be tempting to try to give a direct number, McGoff explains how that might not be the best route to go, since that puts you at risk of being “low balled” by the company, or being written off as too expensive.

In addition, McGoff advises against:

• Telling them what you currently make
• Saying you “hope” or “wish” for
• Being unprepared
• Saying you’ll take whatever

Instead, McGoff offers a few other polite, professional scripts to use that invite more “negotiation power.”

When potential employers bring the subject up, respond with “Thank you so much for bringing that up. I would love to know the approved salary range for the position.”

If the response to that is something to the effect of “there isn’t a set range” or “it depends on the candidate” you can say: “Got it. Well, my salary range is flexible but I’d like to learn more about the specifics of the role before giving out a solid number.”

You can also give the price range of other companies you’re applying to, McGoff says. And perhaps most importantly, she recommends reiterating that you’re “flexible on salary depending on other elements of the compensation package.”

This all comes with the caveat that employers “should” be listing the salary range upfront in the job description.

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This mentality is seconded by Joyel Crawford, a career coach and host of the podcast Career View Mirror, who told The Muse that giving a finite number “limits your ability to make something work with the company.”

In the same interview, Crawford mentions that it’s also worth noting that compensation can be given in other ways, depending on your values. Perhaps you can be flexible in salary to a job with a high amount of paid time off, year end bonuses, childcare benefits, etc.

Bottom line: job interviews are tough, but that’s why having some strategies in place to bring your best, even when nerves are triggered, is so important.

Fifth-grade teacher Emily E. Smith is not your ordinary teacher.

She founded The Hive Society — a classroom that’s all about inspiring children to learn more about their world … and themselves — by interacting with literature and current events. Students watch TED talks, read Rolling Stone, and analyze infographics. She even has a long-distance running club to encourage students to take care of their minds and bodies.

Smith is such an awesome teacher, in fact, that she recently received the 2015 Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing.

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It had always been her dream to work with children in urban areas, so when Smith started teaching, she hit the ground running. She had her students making podcasts, and they had in-depth discussions about their readings on a cozy carpet.

But in her acceptance speech for her award, she made it clear that it took a turning point in her career before she really got it:

“Things changed for me the day when, during a classroom discussion, one of my kids bluntly told me I “couldn’t understand because I was a white lady.” I had to agree with him. I sat there and tried to speak openly about how I could never fully understand and went home and cried, because my children knew about white privilege before I did. The closest I could ever come was empathy.”

Smith knew that just acknowledging her white privilege wasn’t enough.

She wanted to move beyond just empathy and find a way to take some real action that would make a difference for her students.

She kept the same innovative and engaging teaching methods, but she totally revamped her curriculum to include works by people who looked like her students. She also carved out more time to discuss issues that her students were facing, such as xenophobia and racism.

And that effort? Absolutely worth it.

As she said in her acceptance speech:

“We studied the works of Sandra Cisneros, Pam Munoz Ryan, and Gary Soto, with the intertwined Spanish language and Latino culture — so fluent and deep in the memories of my kids that I saw light in their eyes I had never seen before.”

The changes Smith made in her classroom make a whole lot of sense. And they’re easy enough for teachers everywhere to make:

— They studied the work of historical Latino figures, with some of the original Spanish language included. Many children of color are growing up in bilingual households. In 2007, 55.4 million Americans 5 years of age and older spoke a language other than English at home.

— They analyzed the vision of America that great writers of color sought to create. And her students realized that our country still isn’t quite living up to its ideals. Despite progress toward racial equality with the end of laws that enforced slavery or segregation, we still have a long way to go. Black people still fare worse than white people when it comes to things like wealth, unfair arrests, and health.

— They read excerpts from contemporary writers of color, like Ta-Nehisi Coates who writes about race. Her students are reading and learning from a diverse group of writers. No small thing when they live in a society that overwhelmingly gives more attention to white male writers (and where the number of employees of color in the newspaper industry stagnates at a paltry 12%).

— They read about the Syrian crisis, and many students wrote about journeys across the border in their family history for class. The opportunity particularly struck one student; the assignment touched him so much that he cried. He never had a teacher honor the journey his family made. And he was proud of his heritage for the first time ever. “One child cried,” Smith shared, “and told me he never had a teacher who honored the journey his family took to the United States. He told me he was not ashamed anymore, but instead proud of the sacrifice his parents made for him.”

Opportunities like this will only increase as the number of children from immigrant families is steadily increasing. As of 2013, almost 17.4 million children under 18 have at least one immigrant parent.

Smith now identifies not just as an English teacher, but as a social justice teacher.

Smith’s successful shift in her teaching is an example for teachers everywhere, especially as our schools become increasingly ethnically and racially diverse. About 80% of American teachers are white. But as of last year, the majority of K-12 students in public schools are now children of color.

As America’s demographics change, we need to work on creating work that reflects the experiences that our students relate to. And a more diverse curriculum isn’t just important for students of color. It’s vital for everyone.

As Smith put it, “We, the teachers, are responsible for instilling empathy and understanding in the hearts of all kids. We are responsible for the future of this country.”

This article originally appeared on 12.07.15

Life hacks are tiny nuggets of wisdom that can make our daily lives easier and more enjoyable. They’re clever shortcuts and ingenious solutions to everyday problems that we sometimes don’t realize are unique to us until we share them with others.

They can save us time, money and effort, all while adding a dash of fun and creativity to our routines.

At Upworthy, we love sharing life hacks to make our readers’ lives a bit easier. We’ve done them on tips people wish they knew in their 20s, “simple but effective” life hacks, “life advice,” how to make your refrigerator smell better and even hacks that help you find a lost kid.

One would think that we’ve heard every hack known to man. However, a group of Redditors have come together to share the “completely original” life hacks they came up with and there are many new ones that we’ve never heard.

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It all started when a Redditor with the username reddit_API_is_sh** posed an awkwardly-worded question to the AskReddit subforum: “What are some of your personal life hacks that you came up with yourself, not necessarily completely original?” The question received over 1,400 responses from folks with life hacks that can help people with nearly every phase of their lives, whether domestic responsibilities, education, or raising kids.

So here are 17 of the best “completely original” life hacks shared on Reddit.

1. Teach ’em Spanish

“If your child watches the same DVD over and over so many times that they know it by heart, switch the language and let them learn Spanish.” — BulletDodger

2. Cleaning motivation

“When I don’t feel like cleaning, I put on a ‘Watch Me Clean’ show on YouTube, and somehow, within 10 minutes, I get up and start cleaning. I need to try that with exercising next.” — Affectionate-Big5784

3. Friends are plants

“You really have to invest in friendships the older you get. The analogy of them being like a plant that needs watering is so true.” — Wirsteve

4. Poo trick

“I put a little bit of tp in the toilet before number 2 to combat splashing.” — TraditionalLadder473

5. Develop interests

“The best way for me to deal with loneliness is actually not to pursue platonic or romantic relationships actively, but to keep myself busy working on and developing my interests. (Additionally, it’s important for me to do this both in a solitary and semi-social way – taking classes, joining groups, etc. However, I don’t use these semi-social outlets to make friends per se, but as a way to just be around like-minded people.) I find actively pursuing relationships when I am in a state of loneliness stress is a recipe for bad outcomes. I always meet the best people when I am more at peace with my life. Also, one of the big perks of having a relatively slow social life is time for personal development and working on interests.” — Zazzlekdazzle

6. Duvet hack

“No matter what size bed you have, get a duvet that’s at least one size bigger.” — Meganetism

7. Memorization

“For upcoming exams that require memorization, I just read through the paper once in morning, noon, afternoon and evening. Don’t try to forcefully remember; just read, maybe out loud if you can’t focus. Over several days, the brain naturally remembers it effortlessly. This, of course, requires doing it ahead of the exams for at least 1 week; try to break the bad habit of studying rushed the night before the exam the next morning with this. Repetition is mother of all learnings.” — Reddit_API_is_sh**

8. Shop satisfied

“Don’t go to the supermarket hungry.” — Posiotive_Judgement581

9. The night before

“Always set up your outfit, lunch, bag, keys, etc. the night before.” — H3rata

10. Always show up

“Just show up. Whether for your job, your BF/GF, your sports team, your parents, or whatever. Just showing up, even if you’re empty-handed, even if you can’t play, even if you’re not totally prepared for the meeting, just show up. Bailing on stuff and not being present is the worst thing you can do. Always show up.” — Gottapeenow2

11. Be quiet

“Say less. People will over-explain and give you the advantage.” — Arseblaster420

12. Why worry?

“I adopted a snippet of conversation from the movie, ‘Bridge of Spies.’ At three, separate points in the movie, there is this fragment between Hanks (the Lawyer) and Ryland (the Spy) (whose birthday is today, too):
Lawyer: You don’t seem to be worried about «event».Spy (after a short pause): Would it help?
I like that. There’s no point to getting your knickers in a twist over events you have no control over, cannot influence, etc.
My life is considerably more relaxed with that attitude.” — DeeDee_Zee

13. Stay silent

“When someone says something outrageous (racist, mean, hurtful, whatever), do not respond at all. Go completely silent. Leave their comment hanging there like a fart. Let them marinate in what they just said.” — jimstirlingssurgeon

“Repeat exactly what they’ve said out loud back to them. Say nothing else after. It gets them thinking. As a Black woman who recently moved to Australia, I’ve had to adopt this approach instead. It’s been a wonderful strategy.” — kymikeobabe

14. Touch grass

“If you’re feeling sluggish or down in the dumps go for a walk or get out in nature, even if it’s the last thing you want to do.” — Cherrycola250ml

15. No sugar in the AM

“Don’t start your day with sugar—it helps reduce cravings throughout the rest of your day, and your snacking will take a back seat. I think it’s spiking your glucose early that does it. Start with something savory and packed with protein.” — Emotional_Camp_7681

16. Clean for 10

“Every morning I spend 10 minutes cleaning something before I go to work. Dishes we left to soak overnight, folding laundry we air dryed, organizing the coffee table. A little adds up to a lot.” — k_lo970

17. Space heater

“In the winter, I put a small space heater in my bathroom and put it on only when I’m in the shower. When I get out, it is so pleasant in the room. No chills, no goosebumps. I can dry off and put on my lotion in comfort. It’s glorious. If you want to do this, you have to make sure to buy a space heater that is designed for the bathroom and has one of those safety plugs.” — lordmattimcauthon

Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey and Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey are the two best-selling American whiskey brands in the world. More bottles of those two whiskeys are produced, shipped, and consumed worldwide than any other American whiskey by a country mile. All of which begs the age-old question: which is better?

While we’ve already answered that for the basic versions from each brand, we thought we’d dive a little deeper. This time, we’re asking which of these mammoth brands makes the best premium single-barrel whiskey.

It’s a valid query — since both Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam make a great single-barrel product that’s both easy to find and easy to afford. You can grab both of these bottles from most liquor store shelves right now. So let’s find out exactly which one you should be buying via a blind taste test.

Before we dive in, to be clear, these whiskeys are very distinct. Which is which is obviously, as soon as you nose them. Jack Daniel’s whiskey goes through the Lincoln County Process — a sugar maple charcoal filtration. This makes the flavors from the yeast — fruits, florals, soft sugars — more accessible during aging. Jim Beam doesn’t go through this process, making Beam’s whiskey oakier and spicier with a deep cherry vibe.

So we’re not pretending that we don’t know these whiskeys from the moment they hit the nose. I’m simply looking at them blindly as sippers and deciding which one tastes best.

• The 100 Best Bourbon Whiskeys Of 2023, Ranked
• The ‘Smoothest’ Bourbons Under $100, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The 100 Best Kentucky Bourbons, Ranked
• The Absolute Best Tasting Bourbons Under $50, Ranked
• The Absolute Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States

Part 1 — The Jim Beam Vs. Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Blind Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with classic notes of vanilla sheet cake, salted caramel, wintry mulled wine spices, and a sense of cherry pie in a lard crust next to a hint of dried corn husk, old broom bristle, and dark chocolate pipe tobacco.

Palate: The palate layers orange zest next to sticky toffee pudding, old leather, and cherry tobacco next to dark chocolate with this lingering sense of coconut cream pie lurking somewhere in the background.

Finish: The finish leans into more woody winter spices (especially cinnamon bark and nutmeg) with rich toffee and cherry-chocolate tobacco braided with dry sweetgrass and cedar bark.

Initial Thoughts

Cherry and woody spice? This is Jim Beam, baby! It’s also pretty delicious. I would say that the end was a little weak compared to the nose and palate, but only slightly so.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Nose: A clear sense of toasted oak, dark apple tobacco, apricot jam, and a hint of molasses drives the nose toward pear syrup and pancakes covered in blueberry sauce.

Palate: Notes of caramel corn, mild winter spice barks, and plenty of oily vanilla beans are countered on the palate by cream soda, cinnamon cookies, and soft apple butter tobacco with a mild chewiness.

Finish: The sweet banana fruit arrives on the end and marries well to a peppery spice, apple clove gum, and mulled wine that amps up as the end draws near with a touch of woody pipe tobacco on the very end.

Initial Thoughts

This is a fruit bomb, which is pure Jack. It’s also just deeper somehow. There’s more here and it ends on a lush and vibrant note that’s almost chewy.

Part 2 — The Runner-Up and Winner of the Jim Beam Vs. Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Blind Tasting

2. Jim Beam Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 54%

Average Price: $20

The Whiskey:

Each of these Jim Beam bottlings is pulled from single barrels that hit just the right spot of taste, texture, and drinkability, according to the master distillers at Beam. That means this juice is pulled from less than one percent of all barrels in Beam’s warehouses, making this a very special bottle at a bafflingly affordable price.

Bottom Line:

This is a really good bourbon, especially for the price. But the finish needed something a little longer lasting. I’d say build this into a cocktail and you’ll be all set for a great old fashioned or Manhattan.

1. Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $48

The Whiskey:

This was first introduced in 1997. The whiskey is hand-selected from barrels on the upper floors of Jack’s vast Tenessee rickhouses. The whisky is bottled at a slightly higher proof to allow the nuance of the single-barrel whiskey to shine.

Bottom Line:

This was just more rounded while still feeling 100% approachable. It was fresh and vibrant and landed the finish with a deep sense of aged whiskey. Overall, this felt like an easygoing sipper for any ol’ day when there’s time to slowly sip some whiskey.

OG Anunoby has missed the last five games for the New York Knicks with a bone spur in his right elbow. The Knicks had been listing Anunoby as day-to-day, with Tom Thibodeau providing little in the way of insight into the severity of the issue for New York’s new star wing.

Unfortunately, rest did not do enough to alleviate the issue and day-to-day will now turn into more than a month total away from the court for Anunoby, as he will miss another three weeks at least after having surgery to remove the bone fragment from his elbow.

The goal, of course, is for Anunoby to be back and fully healthy for the final push to the playoffs in March. The Knicks have climbed into a tie for third in the East, and are comfortably ahead of the Pacers in sixth for the final guaranteed playoff position. Still, they will have to navigate the next week before the All-Star break without both Anunoby and Julius Randle, who will be re-evaluated at the end of the break as he recovers from a dislocated shoulder. All-Star does provide a week off that cuts into how many games Anunoby will miss, but it will still be at least nine more games without him.

The Knicks do have some reinforcements coming via the trade deadline after making a move to add Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks from the Pistons, but there will still be a lot of burden on Jalen Brunson (who tweaked his ankle recently) and the rest of the Knicks if they’re going to hold onto their current spot in the top-4 without Anunoby and Randle for a decent chunk of time.

The Super Bowl is coming up this weekend with Halftime Show performer Usher ready to bring the soul, but fans looking forward to seeing what game DJ Tiësto would have contributed to the festivities will unfortunately be disappointed in that regard. The DJ has made the “tough” decision to pull out of the show due to a family emergency according to Variety based on social media posts he shared today.

“Me and my team have been preparing something truly special for months, but a personal family emergency is forcing me to return home Sunday morning,” he wrote. “It was a tough decision to miss the game, but family always comes first. Thank you to the @NFL for the collaboration and looking forward to working with them to deliver something incredible together in the future !”

Super Bowl LVIII was to be the first with an “in-game” DJ, with Tiësto playing during breaks in the game. Some would even appear during CBS’ broadcast. Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have to wait until some other time to see what Tiësto had up his sleeve. The NFL undoubtedly has a backup plan, but as of press time, it hasn’t yet been revealed which DJ will come off the bench to take Tiësto’s place — or if the league will just nix the plan altogether this year.

Well… at least we still have the ads. So. Many. Ads. (It’s a good crop this year, too.)

An $18 McDonald’s Big Mac Meal recently made headlines as further evidence of the pains of inflation. I’ve seen all kinds of takes here, with people and publications blaming Joe Biden’s economic policies (it is an election year after all), or suggesting the fault is with fast food workers themselves for accepting their well-deserved wage increases. It’s a thorny issue and, truth be told, much of this is a simple market correction in an artificially deflated food system.*

Make no mistake, fast food prices are rising. But what a lot of these headlines and the online chatter seem to miss is that generally, a Big Mac Meal doesn’t cost the average consumer $18. To say otherwise is completely disingenuous. The $18 Big Mac that gets cited again and again in articles like the NY Post’s “Why McDonald’s is charging $18 for a Big Mac Meal — and why there’s no relief in sight,” is about a specific McDonald’s franchise restaurant at a rest stop in Darien, Connecticut — where a Big Mac meal will cost you $17.59 and an Egg McMuffin will run you $7.29.

That’s a lot of money, for sure. But when we’re talking about a specific franchise restaurant (franchisees set their own prices) located at a rest stop where prices are often grossly inflated (have you ever gotten gas between cities on a road trip? It’s nuts), this doesn’t paint an accurate picture of what the average American consumer faces. The truth is, that the Federal Reserve has done a pretty good job of bringing down inflation rates and dodging a full-blown economic recession. The United States Department of Agriculture says that food prices are decreasing at the grocery store and yes, increasing away from home (meaning fast food) but not nearly to the point that these reactionary publications would suggest.

McDonald’s knows its high prices are hurting business, recently its CEO Chris Kempczinski acknowledged the pressure its rising prices place on consumers making under $45,000 a year. So it’s up to McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants to figure out how to draw those customers back (Taco Bell is doing a pretty good job).

This conversation got us thinking — How much does an actual Big Mac Meal cost? Prices vary from city to city, so we rounded up the price of the Big Mac Meal and some of our other fast food favorites from five of the most populous cities across the United States to see how much damage eating out will cause to your finances. The five cities we chose were New York City, New York, Los Angeles California, Chicago Illinois, Atlanta Georgia, and Houston Texas.

The restaurants we chose were McDonald’s (obviously), Chipotle, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s, simply because these are four of our favorite fast food restaurants and they’re located in each of the five cities. We focused specifically on combo meals (except Chipotle, which doesn’t have combos), and chose two or three popular orders. See the details below.

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*We’ve been paying too little for fast food for decades. — you shouldn’t be able to raise a chicken, kill a chicken, portion a chicken, cook a chicken, bread a chicken, flash freeze a chicken, send a chicken across the country, unpack a chicken, fry a chicken, box it up with a toy and two sauces, and sell it for $3 — that’s insanity and it’s why chicken farms are so gross and unethical, etc.

McDonalds

Manhattan

Big Mac Meal: $13.49
10pc Chicken McNugget Meal: $12.69
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese: $15.29

Los Angeles

Big Mac Meal: $12.09
10pc Chicken McNuggets Meal: $11.59
Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese Meal: $13.99

Chicago

Big Mac Meal: $11.89
10 Pc Chicken Mcnuggets Meal: $12.29
Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese Meal: $13.09

Atlanta

Big Mac Meal: $11.29
10pc Chicken Nuggets Meal: $11.29
Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese: $13.29

Houston

Big Mac Meal: $9.99
10pc Chicken McNuggets Meal: $10.59
Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese: $10.89

Chipotle

Manhattan

Burrito: $11.29
Burrito Bowl: $11.20

Los Angeles

Burrito: $8.95
Burrito Bowl: $8.95

Chicago

Burrito: $9.60
Burrito Bowl: $9.60

Atlanta

Burrito: $8.50
Burrito Bowl: $8.50

Houston

Burrito: $12.05
Burrito Bowl: $12.05

Taco Bell

Manhattan

Crunchwrap Supreme Combo: $13.38
Chicken Quesadilla Combo: $13.63
3 Doritos Locos Tacos Supreme Combo $14.87

Los Angeles

Crunchwrap Supreme Combo: $13.38
Chicken Quesadilla Combo: $13.63
3 Doritos Locos Tacos Supreme Combo $14.87

Chicago

Crunchwrap Supreme Combo: $13.16
Chicken Quesadilla Combo: $13.41
3 Doritos Locos Tacos Supreme Combo $15.12

Atlanta

Crunchwrap Supreme Combo: $11.94
Chicken Quesadilla Combo: $11.70
3 Doritos Locos Tacos Supreme Combo $13.41

Houston

Crunchwrap Supreme Combo: $11.21
Chicken Quesadilla Combo: $11.94
3 Doritos Locos Tacos Supreme Combo $13.16

Wendy’s

Manhattan

Baconator Combo: $13.09
Spicy Chicken: $10.49

Los Angeles

Baconator Combo: $12.39
Spicy Chicken: $10.69

Chicago

Baconator Combos: $11.39
Spicy Chicken: $9.79

Atlanta

Baconator Combo: $11.19
Spicy Chicken: $8.89

Houston

Baconator Combo: $14.14
Spicy Chicken: $12.07

The Bottom Line:

One thing this exercise put into perspective is that in two of the most expensive cities in the country, a Big Mac Meal costs about $5 less than that $18 mark, and that fast food is priced pretty competitively across the board from restaurant to restaurant.

While a restaurant like Taco Bell has a more robust “dollar” menu, the combos from each restaurant cost around or near the same price as the competition. The question we should ask ourselves as consumers is, what am I paying for? Is a Crunchwrap Supreme Combo at $13.38 made with powdered beans and highly processed meat, as much of a bang for your buck as say a burrito from Chipotle for $11.29, where ingredients are fresher and prepared on-site in the restaurant? Does that matter when ordering a side of guacamole and a drink is probably going to cost you more the a Crunchwrap Combo?

There is no right or wrong answer here, it’s a matter of preference. Perceptions of value are for each of us to develop on our own.