OVER THE TRANSOM: It was one of those tips upon which the Fourth Estate — or is that the Fifth Column? — depends. I, as a so-called “Man of the People,” should know, I was told, that the price of single doughnuts, at least as sold by Albertsons in Goleta, had just skyrocketed from 99 cents to $1.29. “Corporate Grocery America is on the move,” my tipster warned.
Naturally, I was outraged.
Yes, it’s part of my job description to be outraged. And by everything. But my love of doughnuts is genuine. It’s not some faux-everyman contrivance that reporters — even in froufrou, chichi towns like Santa Barbara — are expected to affect. I know the women — and a few guys, too — behind the counters at Spudnuts; they are living saints. The women at Eller’s on Milpas were assumed up into heaven long ago for all their irreparable kindnesses. And the plain, basic, no-frills fry-cake doughnut sold at Anna’s in Goleta is the gold standard by which perfection is measured.