Everything's inflated now

Recently, I celebrated my wife’s birthday by booking a so-called five-star hotel at one of the prime areas in South Jakarta.

I found it baffling that they didn’t even have an elevator going from the basement to the lobby area. I found out a bit later that it is an older hotel. So, older “five-star” hotel.

I thought hotels would upgrade their basic facilities to maintain their so-called five-star status. I’m not even talking about the gyms, pools, restaurants, and everything else.

Just a basic elevator, going from the basic basement, all the way to the basic lobby.

I know… I know… some would probably say “Yeah at five-star hotels, people would be dropped at the lobby so their chaffeurs can park their cars.”

But to be fair, more proper hotels with more proper basic facilities didn’t suddenly call themselves “seven-star” hotels.

Oh wait, there are seven-star hotels now. Shit.

And it occured to me, things in the world are just… inflated. People just stack new labels on top of the existing top-tier labels.

The worst part, this is the standard practice since like ever.

• You got a “Pro” phone variant? Great! But “Pro Max” is still above you though.
• You got a “Premium” version of that product? Good! But the top-tier is “Maxi” now.
• Are you an “Executive”? Awesome! But you have to report to your “Senior Executive” before you even reach your manager.
• Are you a “Platinum” member? That’s cool! But “Diamond” members would get the privileges first before you.

At this point, you can’t enjoy a “regular” coffee because everyone is getting artisans and gloat them on social media just to discover that they’re drinking the same coffee with a golden label.

The labeling just keeps going on and on. At this rate, we can go straight to get a bachelor’s degree just to discover that it’s just high school with more research assignments.

What is everything anymore?