Inflation Exit Only

Scene inside a supermarket entrance staged like airport security: instead of anti-theft gates, there’s a tall one-way turnstile arch labeled “INFLATION — EXIT ONLY.” Everyday staples—eggs, bread, milk, rent, gas—are personified as price tags or boxed goods riding a moving escalator upward to a mezzanine marked “NEW NORMAL.” On the ground floor, shoppers with strained faces and thin wallets are blocked from reaching the old lower prices below. A polished store manager/economist in a suit stands beside a comically tiny staircase labeled “COOLING,” smiling and pointing to it as proof that inflation is ‘coming down,’ even though the staircase only leads from a steep climb to a still-high landing. Optional background detail: a chart on the wall shows the line bending slightly downward while shelf labels remain dramatically elevated.