Behind the times

I had a George Bush moment the other day.

No, no, not that George Bush. The first one. George H.W. Bush.

Remember when he was baffled when he saw a barcode scanner at a grocery store checkout counter? He’d never seen one before. That moment became a symbol of his being behind the times and out of touch, and may have contributed to his defeat by Bill Clinton in 1992.

Well, so far my George H.W. Bush moment hasn’t cost me the presidency, but it was a big “aha” moment for me, anyway.

I was listening to the radio and an ad came on for a barbecue specialty chain that sells high end grills. “Father’s Day special,” the ad said. “We’ve knocked off $300 on our top grill.”

Whoa.

$300 off? Wow, what do those things cost? Are they giving them away for Father’s Day?

Well, next day I happened to be close to one of the stores in that particular chain, so I stopped in.

Whoa. And wow again.

The minute I walked in, I realized that I had completely missed out on the upscaling of backyard cooking. The first model I saw had a price tag of over $3,500. It was a beauty, all right. Shiny stainless steel and a huge lid that opened to reveal a cooking surface big enough for a side of beef. And a double decker grill.

I asked a salesman if this was his most expensive grill.

“Oh, no,” he said. “There’s our top of the line.”

He pointed to a monstrous SUV of a grill with about eight burner knobs, mounted on a faux stone pedestal. “That one goes for $7,350.”

I was relieved to see that, in addition to the super-high end models, they also had a lineup of three basic black Weber kettle grills – large, medium and small. The one I use at home is a small. I also have an even smaller Smoky Joe, which retails for around $35, I think. So they haven’t forgotten about the average guy.

When my Smoky Joe wears out, I can consider upgrading to the $7,350 model.

Or I can buy 210 new Smoky Joes.