Matt, chewing gum and what five bucks buys
You may have followed the adventures of Matthew “Matt” Harding as he has performed his unusual form of dancing (by his own admission — see Google Earth video above) around all sorts of amazing places on this earth, first on his own and later for Stride chewing gum (you can check out both of his videos, along with outtakes here).
As this blog has recalled recently, the Brits are somewhat obsessed about gum and its disposal (see again the link for the Chewing Gum Action Group) and Matt’s travels, in particular, have captured the attention of an editorial writer named Giles Turnbull, who started his editorial “Matt dances his way to a sponsored holiday fund” in yesterday’s Birmingham Post by invoking those now world-famous viral (and eventually not so) video clips and musing about Matt’s future.
Turnbull goes on to note that Matt has shown us how easy it is to get along with anyone around the world, and then talks about some ways in which we can better connect with and understand the world around us, and — in particular — understand the buying power of five bucks. He suggests checking out a site, The Five Dollar Comparison, that shows, through pictures, what five dollars will buy in different places in the world, from Bangkok to Buenos Aires, and even the gallon of gas down the street in San Diego ($4.90). Giles suggests that the creators of the site “want to create a gallery of international goods that are, in theory, worth the same amount of money.” However, Turnbull suggests, “since the cost of living varies hugely from place to place, it will be an interesting comparison of relative values, as well as financial ones.”
To bring it full circle and back to the world of gum, I can tell you that for five bucks I can buy five PlenTPaks of Wrigley’s at G & M Variety, a great old five and dime not far from here in St. Joe.
