Second Thoughts On Second Avenue Deli

Things are seldom what they seem. A story at Gothamist and its associated comments make the story a little more complex. Lebewohl, the owner, was apparently charging $18.00 for a regular pastrami sandwich. Admittedly, it was the Platonic ideal of a pastrami sandwich, but the attributes of the Platonic ideal of a pastrami sandwich include a price of under $13.00. Even the crappy excuse for a deli in Orange County, CA only charges $11.85 for its inferior product. Second of all, Lebewohl actually negotiated the rent increase into the lease some time back. It's hardly David-and-Goliath when someone acts on terms to which you've agreed in writing, unless it's unconscionable or a contract of adhesion.

But it's the $18.00 sandwich which gives the affair its moral cadence. Feh.