The writer of the letter “What’s the real state of our economy?” (Nov. 13, TribLive) nailed it. But don’t take his word for it; use your own eyes.

Take a ride down Route 30 between Jeannette and Greensburg nearly any day of the week, but especially on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Chain restaurants and fast-food establishments are packed; there are hundreds of cars at the Live Casino, where people appear anxious to donate their money to Baltimore’s casino-running billionaires.

It seems at least one in five vehicles is a gas-guzzling, $50,000 truck or SUV. The lines are long at Starbucks and Dunkin’ (popping up all over the area) to buy $6 cups of coffee.

All of this, and unemployment is at less than 4%. Average pay for a McDonald’s cashier is nearly double Pennsylvania’s minimum wage.

If these observations are a reflection of “suffering through inflation,” tell me what people would be doing if the economy was great.

Don’t waste time reading this; you need to help meet the National Retail Federation’s prediction of $967 billion to be spent on the holidays, and you only have a few weeks to do it.

Thomas C. Spallone

Hempfield

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