That new pho place's broth was pretty watery when I went there last week, and the couple you mentioned probably just liked the novelty factor of annoying a stranger. Your banh mi spot had years of perfecting their bread and pickled veggies, which is way harder to get right than some trendy sauce. Comfort food gets a bad rap but there's a reason places stay open for decades, and it's not because they're just coasting on nostalgia.

Wishing I just saved up from the start" is basically my wallet's life story. I once bought a $40 tablet that died so fast I'm pretty sure it was just a drawing pad cosplaying as electronics. Now I'm stuck on my third Wacom because apparently learning the hard way is my main hobby.

Tried a lumbar cushion from Amazon for $20, fixed my back pain in a week.

Honestly doesn't surprise me, most of those "green" labels are just marketing fluff.

Totally get what you mean. I went to a hardware supplier meetup a few months back and it was the same thing, everyone just tapping phones. I missed the old way where you'd actually look someone in the eye, shake their hand, and hand them a card. You remember a lot more about a person when you physically give them something, their name, their face, even the feel of the paper. Now it's just a quick scan and you're onto the next person, no real connection made. Feels like we're losing a little bit of the human part of meeting folks.