Mike Hosking: The whole world seems to be accepting mediocrity

Is the new mess the new normal? And is that why we put up with it?

I read yesterday about Amsterdam's airport and the complete cluster it has become. Heathrow is already famous for similar shambles.

So, when we look at Auckland Airport and its non-function, are we just another example of what's happening all over the place?

A large number of companies have left or are leaving Chicago because of crime and their liberal approach to it. So, are our ram raids really just a local version of their various statistics that have broken new records? Is everyone soft on crime?

There are similar stories in Los Angeles and Brits moving back home after years because of the homelessness. We were warned about San Francisco last week when booking airfares. It's not a place to be for too long we were told.

Australia is adjusting its immigration settings because they can't find anyone to do the work. We can't find anyone to do the work. So, are our labour troubles any worse than anyone else's troubles?

We had yet another school holiday call from friends in Queenstown. The place is shut, restaurants can't open seven days, there are no staff. But they were the people that rang us last time and said the same thing.

Once upon a time, word of mouth meant something. We didn’t put up with it and we went elsewhere. It seems these days we keep going back and simply moan a bit more.

And not just moan but pay more for it. Everything costs a fortune. We got the text this week about three gin and tonics in London costing $130. Our boss here just got back from Las Vegas and New York. He told us it costs a fortune and he wept at what he was paying.

But are we travelling? Yes we are. We can't get on a plane fast enough to pay through the nose, lose our bag, get our flight delayed, and then ring home to moan about it all.

If you look, there is trouble everywhere. The cost of power, the threat of recession, the price of fish, the lack of labour, the political anger, and the overall general dysfunction.

A lot of it doesn't actually make sense. There is no logic to it. In a cost-of-living crisis, we can't stop spending. We like paying extra and we keep going back when the experience was crap. How do we explain this? Or have we just given up? Have we got the "it is what it is" attitude?

Is this why we didn’t vote in the elections? We don’t care. It changes nothing and besides we were on holiday looking for our bags.

Will these days be seen as the mad, crazed, unhinged mess they are? Or is it the new normal? And we don’t even realise what's happened to us?

Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings